Tuesday’s (March 21, 2023) professional boxing ‘Fight Night’ at InterContinental Dhaka had everything – from Bangladeshi-origin UK boxer Ruqsana Begum’s debut win against Tanjila in a 10-round thriller to Sura Krishna Chakma’s nerve-wracking second-round knockout punch against Thai boxer Ponlawat Nanchinda.

With her debut win, Ruqsana also secured the WBU Female Intercontinental Championship Belt, marking the first time female boxers competed for a championship belt in Bangladesh.

During the 10-round thriller, Ruqsana’s professional boxing experience faced off against Tanjila’s aggressive fighting. However, it was Ruqsana — a former kickboxing world champion — who pulled-off the narrow win in the flyweight category.

The professional boxing event was organized by Xcel Sports Management and Promotions.

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A total of 14 participants from Bangladesh, England, France, India, and Thailand competed in the ring across seven different categories, including featherweight, light heavyweight, bantamweight, cruiserweight, flyweight, and welterweight.

In the lightweight category, Bangladeshi professional boxer Sura Krishna Chakma came head-to-head against Thailand’s Ponlawat Nanchinda.

After a neck-and-neck first round, Sura Krishna dealt a heavy blow to Ponlawat with a knockout punch – grounding his counterpart for the rest of the night.

Since the professional boxing tournament in Bangladesh kicked off last year, Sura Krishna has remained undefeated in his campaign.

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However, last year’s welterweight champion, Al-Amin, suffered a frustrating defeat to his Indian opponent, Dushyant Shrivastava. Dushyant’s strategy of wearing his rival down as much as possible helped him secure a win against Al-Amin, who defeated Nepalese boxer Bharat Chand last year.

At the event, four local talents on the professional circuit, namely Utshob Ahmed, Aminul Islam, Jahidul Islam, and Shahriar Shanto, faced off each other in their respective categories.

Barishal’s Utshob Ahmed beat Rajshahi’s Aminul in the opening bout of the featherweight category.

In the light heavyweight category, Jahidul Islam clinched a victory against Shahriar Shanto.

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Two other international matches took place between professional boxers from Bangladesh, India, and France.

Indian professional boxer Ashish Kumar was defeated by Abu Talha Hridoy of Bangladesh in the bantamweight category. Meanwhile, local boxer Md. Kawsar suffered a heavy defeat against France’s Eliot Michele.

Jalal Yunus, chairman of BCB's cricket operations, was among those who attended the second season of the pro-boxing tournament.

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Talking to UNB on the future of professional boxing in Bangladesh, Yunus said, “This is quite new in Bangladesh. We haven’t seen professional boxing being arranged here before. The organizers did a great job.”

“We welcome all sorts of sports in our country, whether it is cricket, football, boxing, shooting, or hockey,” he said, adding, “If we provide them with platforms, participation will increase in the future.”

On Monday, Adnan Haroon, chairman of Bangladesh Boxing Foundation, announced the professional boxing event for this year

The event was approved by Bangladesh Boxing Foundation, affiliated with the World Boxing Council.

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Beximco was the title sponsor of the professional boxing event. Premier Bank co-sponsored the event. The gold sponsors were 5R Securex and Innstar, while the silver sponsors were Kloth, Trade Majestic LTD., Unicom, and Pepsi. Besides TNR, Bongo, T Sports, InterContinental Dhaka, and bKash featured as partners for this event.