Sura Krishna now officially the face of Bangladeshi pro-boxing
With international gold around his waist, the undefeated boxer has to look abroad for competition
The crowd was different this time. It seemed bigger than that of the last event and even the preliminary bouts seemed to interest them.
However, it was the main event of the Beximco Xcel Boxing Championship 2.0 Fight Night that would go on to get the loudest response and also make history as Bangladesh got its first international boxing champion.
Sura Krishna Chakma, considered the best boxer in the country, cemented his legacy in the world of professional boxing by taking home the Asian Boxing Federation's Super Lightweight Intercontinental Championship belt on Saturday night.
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Although the vacant championship belt was on the line, for Sura and his opponent, Nepal's Mahendra Bahadur Chand, the match also had another significance: it was their second fight. Mahendra tried his best to tip the scale in his favour, but Sura demonstrated his prowess by knocking down Mahendra twice in the first half.
Mahendra ultimately lost the bout in points. While the audience cheered, along with Sura's mother and mother-in-law, Mahendra and his team decided to go the 'sore loser' route and expressed their disappointment with a set of "boos".
Blow-by-blow
With 16 participants from various countries, the night witnessed seven other intense bouts.
The Bangladesh Boxing Foundation-sanctioned event commenced with a gripping Bantamweight bout between Bangladeshi boxers Aminul Islam and Al Sany. Sany emerged victorious, showcasing his exceptional skill set.
The international bouts began with a face-off in the Super Middleweight category between Yugandhar Tambat and Jewel Ahmed Jony. Despite Tambat's aggressive approach, Jony clinched the win with his impeccable scoring punches. The India vs Bangladesh fight also got the audience riled up despite being only the second bout of the evening.
The female bout saw the return of former WBU Intercontinental Title Challenger Tanjila and Afra Khondokar. After six rounds, Tanjila secured the victory, adding another feather to her cap. For Afra though, it was the lack of a scrunchie that proved to be the biggest challenge for the night. The referee had to pause the bout at one point and ask Afra's corner to save her from the bad hair day. Her coach, well versed in the art of pugilism, was no match for Afra's unruly hair. Finally, an audience member walked up to the ring and helped the boxer tie her hair and finish the bout.
The fourth fight saw the return of Jahidul Islam, a former national champion who got his head busted open in the last event in March, and the Turkish champion Batuhan Boral. Although an intense fight, the most frustrated referee in the history of referee-kind had to keep breaking the clinch. Boral maintained his unbeaten streak by defeating Jahidul through a technical knockout in the fourth round. Although Jahidul looked in much better shape than his previous fight, successive losses by TKOs do not bode well for the boxer's career.
Then came the main card, kicked off by Al Amin, who was coming off a victory in Thailand's Lumpinee Stadium. The "bull" really brought the fight to Russian fighter Konstantin Rudenko in the Welterweight category. In the four-round battle, Al Amin dominated the ring, landing punch after punch on the Russian fighter, ultimately emerging victorious as his wife kept shouting "Shabaash!" from ringside.
Next, undefeated Bangladeshi boxer Utshob Ahmed and India's undefeated Bantamweight boxer Pawan Kumar Arya, gave the audience a match to remember. The six-round bout in the Bantamweight category concluded with Utshob's victory.
And in a gripping match, French welterweight Dervis "The Tiger" Florent faced off against Nepalese welterweight champion Bharat Chand. After six intense rounds, Dervis emerged as the winner. And although neither fighters were Bangladeshi, the audience was nevertheless on their feet cheering.
Grander than the last event, but more to come
Similar to last time, the crowd was again a who's who of socialites: politicians, businessmen, rich kids and social media influencers. But this time around, they knew what they were in for. Predictions from the fans sitting around me were educated guesses this time. And everyone was deeply engrossed in the fights, starting from bout one.
Fortunately, there will be more to come in the future.
"In the coming days, boxing will be one of the top three priorities for Beximco when it comes to promoting sports," Shayan F Rahman, group CEO of title sponsor Beximco, told TBS.
He added that future events would have to be successively bigger for the sport to attract more sponsors and audience.
