International Lethwei Federation Japan

International Lethwei Federation Japan, also known as ILFJ, is a Japanese Lethwei promotion company with headquarters in Tokyo.[5]

International Lethwei Federation Japan
TypeLethwei promotion
Founded2016
HeadquartersTokyo, Japan[1]
Key people
Kakuo Shimizu [2]
OwnerYoshimitsu Mitsui[3]
(First On Stage Co., Ltd)[3][4]
Websitehttp://ilfj.or.jp/

History

In 2016, the ILFJ acquired a ‘’Grade-A’’ promoter licence from the Myanmar Traditional Lethwei Federation,[3] allowing them to organize traditional Lethwei events in Japan.[6][7] ILFJ then entered into a partnership with Myanmar businessman Mr. Wunna[8] CEO of Myanmar Media Group (MMG),[3] the organizer of the Myanmar Lethwei World Championship, to share fighters and co-organize the Lethwei events in Japan.[9] The first ILFJ event titled Lethwei Grand Prix in Japan 2016,[10] was held on 27 October 2016 at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.[5][3]

On April 18, 2017, the Ambassador of Myanmar to Japan attended the first ever Lethwei world title fight headlining two non-Burmese in the sport's history at Lethwei in Japan 3.[11] The event organized by ILFJ featured reigning champion Dave Leduc vs Adem Yilmaz inside the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.[12]

On July 10, 2022, hosted a 10 fights Lethwei tournament named Lethwei Unbeatable in Oyabe, Japan.[13][14][15]

Media coverage

After having an inaugural first event in the Japan in Tokyo (Lethwei Grand Prix 2016), FITE TV[16] signed a multi-year agreement to broadcast the promotion's Lethwei events.[17]

In 2017, the ILFJ signed a broadcasting deal with MNTV[18] to be aired in Myanmar[19] and livestreaming[20] available in Japan on AbemaTV.[21]

Events
# Event Date Venue Location
15 Lethwei in Japan 15: Kizuna February 22, 2020 Edion Arena Japan Osaka, Japan
14 Lethwei in Japan 14: Mysterious Tenmei November 2, 2019 Korakuen Hall Japan Tokyo, Japan
13 Lethwei in Japan 13: First Intention July 25, 2019 Korakuen Hall Japan Tokyo, Japan
12 Lethwei in Japan 12: Proof of the Brave May 17, 2019 Korakuen Hall Japan Tokyo, Japan
11 Lethwei in Japan 11: Millennium Force February 27, 2019 Korakuen Hall Japan Tokyo, Japan
10 Lethwei in Japan 10: Inori November 14, 2018 Korakuen Hall Japan Tokyo, Japan
9 Lethwei in Japan 9: Kodo September 13, 2018 Korakuen Hall Japan Tokyo, Japan
8 Lethwei in Japan 8: Samurai June 29, 2018 Korakuen Hall Japan Tokyo, Japan
7 Lethwei in Japan 7: Yuki February 21, 2018 Korakuen Hall Japan Tokyo, Japan
6 Lethwei Grand Prix Japan 2017 November 15, 2017 Korakuen Hall Japan Tokyo, Japan
5 Lethwei in Japan 5: Nexurise September 28, 2017 Korakuen Hall Japan Tokyo, Japan
4 Lethwei in Japan 4: Frontier June 16, 2017 Tokyo Dome City Hall Japan Tokyo, Japan
3 Lethwei in Japan 3: Grit April 18, 2017 Korakuen Hall Japan Tokyo, Japan
2 Lethwei in Japan 2: Legacy February 16, 2017 Korakuen Hall Japan Tokyo, Japan
1 Lethwei Grand Prix Japan 2016 October 27, 2016 Korakuen Hall Japan Tokyo, Japan

[22]

List of champions
DivisionUpper weight limitChampionSinceTitle defenses
Openweight80 kg (176.4 lb)+Canada Dave LeducJune 16, 2017 (Lethwei in Japan 4: Frontier)0
Featherweight65 kg (143.3 lb)Myanmar Thar A Thae Ta PwintJune 16, 2017 (Lethwei in Japan 4: Frontier)1
Bantamweight60 kg (132.3 lb)Japan Yuta HamamotoJune 16, 2017 (Lethwei in Japan 4: Frontier)0
Women's Featherweight62 kg (136.7 lb)Lithuania Julija StoliarenkoNovember 15, 2017 (Lethwei Grand Prix Japan 2017)1

Openweight Championship
No Weight limit: 80 kg (176.4 lb) and up
No. Name Event Date Reign Defenses
1 Canada Dave Leduc
def. Nilmungkorn Sudsakorngym		 Lethwei in Japan 4: Frontier
Tokyo, Japan		 June 16, 2017 631 days
(Vacated)		 Vacated March 9, 2019 [23]

Rules

ILFJ uses traditional Lethwei rules, with no point system. The only way to win is by knockout or because of an injury or the inability to fight any more. At the end of the match if the two fighters are still standing, the fight is declared a draw.

Rounds

Each bout can be booked as 4 or 5 rounds fight with 3 minutes per round and a 2-minute break in between rounds. Championship bouts are 5 round with 3 minutes per round.

Weight classes

ILFJ utilizes the following weight classes:

Weight class name Upper limit
in kilograms (kg) in pounds (lb)
Bantamweight 60132.3
Featherweight 65143.3
Welterweight 70154.3
Middleweight 75165.3
Openweight No weight limit

Notable fighters

See also

References
  1. "(Japanese)無敗のミャンマー人と対する一休そうじゅん". Yahoo! Japan. 12 September 2018. Archived from the original on 4 November 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  2. "New promoter ILFJ". Twitter. 5 April 2021.
  3. "(Japanese) Japan's first MTBF-certified raiding event "Lethwei Grand Prix in Japan 2016" is held at Korakuen Hall". Battle News. 12 September 2016.
  4. "11 · 15 "LETHWEI GP JAPAN 2017" Penalties for reduction of fight money to Kohei Gojigyo". The Weekly Fight. 17 December 2017.
  5. T.I (17 March 2018). "世界で一番過激な格闘技 ラウェイの世界". VICE Japan (in Japanese).
  6. BjornPossel (26 October 2020). "Lethwei in Japan – A History". Overtime Heroics.
  7. "Myanmar-Japan Lethwei fights hosted in Japan". The Global New Light of Myanmar. 2 March 2018.
  8. "後楽園大会出場の外国人戦手が来日＆当日券情報(Japanese)". ILFJ.
  9. "Burmese kick-boxing champ KOs Australian". Burmese DVB. 28 October 2016. Archived from the original on 3 November 2018.
  10. "Lethwei GP in Japan 2016". Bout Review. Archived from the original on 3 November 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  11. "Lethwei in Japan 3 GRIT". Myanma Allin Daily. 21 April 2017.
  12. "တင္း အားကစား ႐ုပ္သံျမန္မာ့ရာလက္ေဝွခ်န္ပီယံ ေဒ့ဗ္လက္ဒက္ ခ်န္ပီယံဘြဲ ဆက္ထိန္". Burmese DVB. 19 April 2017.
  13. James Reese (25 June 2022). "Lethwei Unbeatable Full Fight Card". Lethwei World.
  14. "【LETHWEI×UNBEATABLE】地元現役議員がエキシビションマッチで元Bigbang王者に挑戦、MMAファイターやBreaking Down出場選手も参戦". Yahoo! Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  15. "【LETHWEI×UNBEATABLE】北陸に初上陸、ラウェイルールで東修平と地元・富山の吉瀧光が対戦". Yahoo! Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  16. Mike Jonhson (14 June 2017). "FITE TV TO AIR LETHWEI IN JAPAN 4 FRONTIER". PWInsiderXTRA.
  17. Toshiya Kurenai (27 September 2017). "Livestream by FITE『LETHWEI in Japan 5 NEXURISE". Ameblo Japan.
  18. "(Japanese)【ミャンマー】キックボクシングに似た格闘技". Global News Asia. 8 November 2018.
  19. MDN (19 February 2018). "Myanmar Lethwei to take place in Tokyo". Myanmar Digital News.
  20. "LETHWEI GRAND PRIX JAPAN 2017". Abema (in Japanese). Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  21. "3度目となる日本大会『バガン遺跡群復興支援チャリティーLETHWEI IN JAPAN 3 ～GRIT～』を緊急生中継". Abema Times (in Japanese). 18 April 2017. Archived from the original on 3 November 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  22. "ILFJ events". ILFJ. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  23. Eaton, Matt (26 March 2019). "DAVE LEDUC CLEARS THE DECKS FOR WLC". The Fight Nation. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019.
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