Muhamad Ridhwan bin Ahmad (born 14 December 1987), also known as Muhamad Ridhwan, is a

Singaporean Singaporeans are the citizens and nationals of the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is home to a people of a variety of ethno-racial-religious origins, with the city-state itself being a multi-racial, multi-cultural, m ...

retired boxer who, as of 2024 is the boxing coach of the Singaporean national team.

Amateur career

Muhamad Ridhwan started boxing at the age of 16. In the

2011 SEA Games The 2011 Southeast Asian Games, () officially known as the 26th Southeast Asian Games, or the 26th SEA Games, and commonly known as Jakarta-Palembang 2011, were a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held from 11 to 22 November 2011 in Jakarta and ...

, Ridhwan represented Singapore and won a bronze medal in the 60kg boxing event after being eliminated by Mandiangan Matius of Indonesia in the semi-finals. In the

2013 SEA Games The 2013 Southeast Asian Games (, ), officially known as the 27th Southeast Asian Games, or the 27th SEA Games, and commonly known as Naypyitaw 2013, were a Southeast Asian multi-sport event took place in Naypyidaw, Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar from 11 ...

, Ridhwan won a bronze medal in the 60kg boxing event after being eliminated by Junel Cantancio of the Philippines in the semi-finals. In the

2015 SEA Games The 2015 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 28th Southeast Asian Games, or the 28th SEA Games, and commonly known as Singapore 2015, were a Southeast Asian multi-sport event held by the city-state of Singapore from 5 to 16 June 201 ...

, Ridhwan won a bronze medal in the 56kg boxing event after being eliminated by Tanes Ongjunta of Thailand in the semi-finals. Ridhwan is also a co-founder of Legends Fight Sport, a Singaporean boxing gym.

Professional career

In late 2015, Ridhwan went for a coaching course while on the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

's scholarship, but realized on the first day that he did not want to give up actually boxing. Thus, he made the decision to transit to professional boxing in February 2016. In April 2017, Ridhwan defeated Waldo Sabu of Indonesia via knockout in the second round to win the

World Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is an international professional boxing organization based in Panama. The WBA awards its world championship title at the professional level. Founded ...

(WBA) Asia Featherweight Championship. This was his sixth knockout in winning his first seven professional boxing matches. In May 2017, Ridhwan defeated Fadhili Majiha of Tanzania via knockout in the fourth round to capture the Universal Boxing Organisation (UBO) world super featherweight (58.97kg) title, becoming the first Singaporean to hold a world title in

professional boxing Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

. In October 2017, Ridhwan defeated Nataneal Sebastian via unanimous decision after 12 rounds to win the

International Boxing Organization The International Boxing Organization (IBO) is a US based corporation that sanctions professional boxing matches and awards world and regional championships. It is an independent organization not recognized by the "big four" governing bodies ...

(IBO) international super featherweight (58.97kg) championship. This was his ninth win of nine professional boxing bouts, and by this time he had given himself the nickname of "The Chosen Wan". In September 2018, Ridhwan lost for the first time in professional boxing, to Paulus Ambunda, in a split decision after 12 rounds, in a match for the International Boxing Organisation super bantamweight (55kg) championship. Ridhwan was scheduled for a rematch against Ambunda in March 2019, but before that occurred, Ridhwan publicly declared in January 2019 that he had retired. Ridhwan did not actually retire at that point, as he boxed again professionally in March 2019. However, Ridhwan lost again, this time to Landy Cris Leon. By 2024, Ridhwan had retired from boxing.

Coaching career

Ridhwan began coaching the Singapore national boxing team in June 2020, a role he continued to hold as of 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridhwan, Muhamad 1987 births Living people Singaporean male boxers SEA Games medalists in boxing SEA Games bronze medalists for Singapore Competitors at the 2011 SEA Games Competitors at the 2013 SEA Games Competitors at the 2015 SEA Games Super-featherweight boxers