Singapore pro boxer Ridhwan will fight here for the first time next month
Pro boxer Ridhwan to fight for the first time in front of local crowd
He has had a great start to his professional boxing career, winning his first two fights.
But South-east Asia (SEA) Games medallist-turned-professional boxer Ridhwan Ahmad has yet to thrill his home fans since turning pro last December.
He will get his chance on June 10, when he will be part of the Singapore Fighting Championship (SFC) 3 card.
Speaking to The New Paper, the 28-year-old said: "I feel good. The home crowd is going to expect a good showing, so I'm motivated to give them a good show and a knockout.
"I hope they'll get their money's worth."
Ridhwan, a former national amateur boxer who won bronze medals at three successive SEA Games (2011, 2013, 2015), decided to turn professional after last June's home Games.
In December, he left for the Philippines and spent two months living in a dorm and training, before defeating Filipino upstart Melchor Roda on points on the undercard of Pinoy Pride 35 - the country's biggest boxing event - in Cebu in Feburary.
Ridhwan followed that up with a first-round knockout of 23-year-old Indonesian Heri Purnomo at the Malaysia Professional Boxing Championship in Kuala Lumpur two weeks ago.
Now, he's preparing to fight another Indonesian, Egy Rozten, in SFC 3.
The event will feature other local professional boxers as well.
Nurshahidah Roslie, the only Singapore woman professional boxer, beat Indonesia's Putri Padmi Nurjayati at the KSAU Indonesian Golden Belt Tournament in Jakarta on Friday night, and will face Wondergirl Sithsaithong of Thailand at SFC 3.
Rafi Majid, 36, who won a fight at the Air Force Boxing Championships in Pontianak, will face Malaysia's Alex Lim next month.
Said SFC 3 promoter Arvind Lalwani: "We planned for him (Ridhwan) to fight in SFC 2 (in February), but he got his opportunity in Cebu.
"So we always said next show, Ridhwan will be fighting."
Lalwani, a former national amateur boxer who currently owns the Juggernaut Fight Club gym, is keen to see local boxers scale greater heights.
"The goal is to make Ridhwan and Shahidah Singapore's first professional boxing champions," he said.
"They've fought in the amateurs for so long, so they have the experience.
"Ridhwan is like my little brother and I see it in his eyes how much he wants (to succeed).
"If I can help him do that, and keep moving Singapore amateur and professional boxing to the next level, that would make me very happy."
Ridhwan is satisfied at biding his time for now, pointing to the fact title fights are 12-round matches.
"If the opportunity presents itself, I would definitely go for it," he said.
"But the main goal is for me to become a 10-round fighter, then we can talk about titles.
"My first two fights were four-round ones, and the one at SFC 3 is for six rounds.
"I think by the time I am a 10-round fighter, it will be about the middle of next year... Then we'll see."
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