Vietnam boxing champ has WBO world belt revoked

Nhi claimed the WBO belt in October last year after beating Japanese boxer Etsuko Tada in the title fight.

According to World Boxing Organization (WBO) regulations, a title would be revoked if a boxer fails to defend it within the succeeding six months.

A Japanese boxer had previously challenged Nhi for the title, but was refused due to a disagreement between Nhi and her club Cocky Buffalo in February. As a result, Nhi couldn’t fight before the April 23 deadline.

Nhi, 25, also won’t be competing at SEA Games 31 hosted in Vietnam next month.

“At first, Nhi was going to focus on SEA Games. But due to recent problems, we decided to withdraw and chose to compete in the world boxing championship in Turkey instead. This tournament also takes place around the time as SEA Games 31, so we could only choose one,” said Nhi’s coach Pham Thanh Hai.

After winning the WBO Asia-Pacific belt in 2020, Nhi went on to challenge Tada to claim the world title. At the time, Tada had competed in 26 professional matches and Nhi, only four.

The 2021 national boxing champ Tran Thi Diem Kieu will fill in Nhi’s place at SEA Games 31. Kieu is experienced and more familiar with the SEA Games format, with each match having only three rounds.