World Lethwei Federation

The World Lethwei Federation (WLF) (Burmese: ကမ္ဘာ့လက်ဝှေ့အဖွဲချုပ်) was founded in 2019 as the international governing body for amateur and professional Lethwei.[1] The WLF has the responsibility to sanction and support the growth of Lethwei worldwide outside of Myanmar, including enforcement of its traditions, rules and regulations.[2]

World Lethwei Federation
ကမ္ဘာ့လက်ဝှေ့အဖွဲ့ချုပ်
SportLethwei
CategorySports federation
JurisdictionWorldwide
AbbreviationWLF
Founded2019 (2019)
HeadquartersCopenhagen, Denmark
PresidentAndi Egeberg
Vice president(s)Dean Rosenwald
Official website
worldlethwei.org

History

In 2018, Danish businessman Andi Egeberg invited Lethwei world champion Dave Leduc and organized the first Lethwei seminar in the country of Denmark. In 2019, Egeberg established the Danish Lethwei Federation (Danish: Dansk Lethwei Forbund) and founded the World Lethwei Federation headquartered in Copenhagen.[2] Operating as a member of the World Lethwei Federation, the Slovak Lethwei Association (Slovak: Slovenská Lethwei Associácia) has supported the growth of the sport in Eastern Europe by sanctioning many Lethwei events in Slovakia.[3] Due to the violent ruleset, Lethwei is difficult to sanction and is only legal in a few countries outside of Myanmar.

On November 7, 2020, in partnership with the Wyoming Combat Sports Commission, the WLF the sanctioned the first-ever Lethwei fight and the first Lethwei world championship fight in the United States.[4] Dave Leduc defended his traditional Lethwei world title against the American Cyrus Washington in Cheyenne, Wyoming.[5][6] In 2021, the Amateur Lethwei World Championship scheduled to be held August in Warsaw, Poland, was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic travelling restrictions.[7] On October 29, 2022, the WLF sanctioned the first-ever Lethwei World championship in Europe.[8] The match featured the Slovak Michal Kosik against the Canadian Daniel Lariviere in Brezno, Slovakia.[9]

In 2023, the World Lethwei Federation selected Prom Samnang as the challenger for the openweight Lethwei World Championship against Dave Leduc because of his winning streak in Kun Khmer.[10][11] The match was scheduled to take place on May 27, 2023, in Banska Bystrica,[12] but was cancelled because Samnang was denied a Schengen visa to enter Slovakia.[13]

On July 8, 2023, the WLF to unveiled its inaugural Red belt for the world title fight between Ivan Hatala and Artur Saladiak.[14] "Boxing has the WBC Green belt, Lethwei has the WLF Red belt." said President Andi Egeberg.[15] Saladiak defeated Hatala by TKO in the fourth round and became the WLF Lightweight champion.[16]

MTLF controversy

In 2021, the Myanmar Traditional Lethwei Federation (MTLF) issued an official letter banning the Lethwei world champion Dave Leduc from competing under their federation for 2 years, because of provoking comments he made about Buakaw Banchamek and the sport of Muaythai.[17][18] In a Facebook post, Leduc said that "the WLF is the most powerful, they have affiliated federations all across the world"[19] and stated his intention to only compete in WLF sanctioned events from now on.[20] He added: "There's two Federations in Lethwei: the WLF / World Lethwei Federation and the MTLF / Myanmar Lethwei Federation, who are just a bunch of old men from a community club that never liked me & I never liked them either. They made an “official letter” saying they ban me from their federation “for 2 years” Am I supposed to care? Not only do I not care, I will go further and say: I will never fight in their federation ever again."[21]

See also

References
  1. "World Lethwei Federation". ucolours.com. May 16, 2023.
  2. Matthew Carter (September 18, 2020). "2nd Amateur Lethwei World Championship To Be Held In Poland In 2021". Lethwei World.
  3. Matthew Carter (July 22, 2022). "Lethwei Rising In Popularity In Slovakia". Lethwei World.
  4. Aung Mint Sein (October 7, 2020). "BREAKING: Dave Leduc vs. Cyrus Washington Rematch To Take Place on US Soil". Lethwei World.
  5. Mark Jacobs (November 9, 2020). "Leduc Wins As Burmese Boxing Debuts in U.S." Black Belt.
  6. Myles Boyns (November 9, 2020). "Sparta Sports and Entertainment hosts first ever Lethwei championship bout in North America". Wyoming News Now.
  7. Aung Mint Sein (July 23, 2021). "Poland Can't Host Amateur Lethwei World Championship Because Of COVID-19". Lethwei World.
  8. "First 100% Crypto Financed Combat Sports Promotion". Fight Sports. October 20, 2022.
  9. Andrew Whitelaw (August 29, 2022). "Marshall Inu launching crypto-based fight promotion with 'King of Lethwei' Dave Leduc". BJPenn.com. The main event will showcase the first-ever World Lethwei Federation World title fight (160 lbs)
  10. "ស្ដេចប្រដាល់ភូមា Dave Leduc ដែលចង់ប៉ះ ព្រំ សំណាង សរសេរសារយ៉ាងវែងបកអាក្រាត ថៃថាប្រឌិត ប្រវត្តិ Mouy Thai". Sabay News (in Khmer). April 12, 2023. សហព័ន្ធ Lethwei អន្តរជាតិ បានចាត់ទុករូបគាត់ថាជាកីឡាករដណ្តើមដំណែងជើងឯក Lethwei អន្តរជាតិដ៏សក្ដិសមមួយរូប សម្រាប់ខែឧសភា ឆ្នាំ 2023។)
  11. "សហព័ន្ធគុនខ្មែរបញ្ជាក់សំណើ WLF សុំព្រំ សំណាង ប៉ះស្តេចប្រដាល់ភូមា Leduc" [Khmer Martial Arts Federation confirms WLF request for Prom Samnang to fight Burmese boxing king Leduc]. Kampuchea Thmey (in Khmer). April 12, 2023.
  12. "The King is Back! Dave Leduc to return at MFC 2 against Samnang". Mymmanews.com. April 12, 2023. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  13. Chhorn Norn (May 25, 2023). "Bareknuckle champion wants Kun Khmer fighter". The Phnom Penh Post. the contract offered by the World Lethwei Federation (WLF)
  14. "V Ministry sa bude bojovať o titul svetového šampióna v lethwei. A bude to „apokalypsa"". BBOnline.sk. July 4, 2023. The first-ever WLF belt [...] will be contested.
  15. "Two Huge Fights Announced At MFC Apocalypse". Lethwei World. June 6, 2023.
  16. "MFC and Dave Leduc Eyeing New Countries After Successful Events In Europe". Mymmanews.com. July 19, 2023.
  17. Mark Jacobs (May 11, 2021). "Myanmar Sanctioning Body Blacklists Its World Champion". Black Belt.
  18. Matt Pritchard (May 8, 2021). "King of Lethwei Dave Leduc BANNED from Myanmar and competing in the sport". vmtv.co.uk. Archived from the original on December 1, 2021. The most famous name in the world of Lethwei, Dave Leduc, has been banned from Myanmar and competing in the sport for two years
  19. "Sanction sévère contre un combattant québécois". Journal de Montreal (in French). May 8, 2021. la fédération mondiale de lethwei [WLF]. Celle-ci est la plus puissante, elle a des ententes avec des fédérations partout sur la planète.
  20. "Lethwei Superstar Dave Leduc Unphased By Federations Comments". Overtime Heroics. May 8, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2023. MTLF came out recently with an official letter blacklisting and banning the biggest worldwide superstar from their federation
  21. "Dave Leduc – "FAKE NEWS"". Facebook. May 31, 2021. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
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