Kai-ting “Killer Bee” Chuang of Taiwan lost her ONE Championship kickboxing atomweight world title to 15-year veteran Muay Thai ace Stamp Fairtex at the “Kingdom of Heroes” event in the Impact Arena in Bangkok on Saturday.
The 23-year-old Chuang, who picked up boxing at the age of 16 and had used it to win a university scholarship, looked to sidestep the hometown favorite’s reach and enter boxing range, but Stamp kept her at bay with jabs and kicks to the midsection.
“Killer Bee” was repeatedly tied up by the challenger and dumped to the mat. While not legal under kickboxing rules, it showed that Stamp had a strength advantage.
Photo courtesy of ONE Championship
Unable to get past the kicks, Chuang charged in, but was dragged into clinches, where she was battered with knees until the referee separated them.
She managed to crash through the guard of a tiring Stamp in the final round, but it was too little, too late, and Stamp was awarded the title by unanimous decision.
Chuang, who trains out of Iron Boxing in Taichung, had won the title by beating Yodcherry Sityodtong of Thailand at the Battle For The Heavens Super Series Kickboxing Atomweight World Championship on July 7 in Guangzhou, China.
Chuang has a 16-5 professional record and is a three-time WAKO kickboxing champion. Stamp’s record stands at 61-15-5.
The main event was ONE Championship’s first world-class boxing match, in which Srisaket Sor Rungvisai of Thailand dominated Mexico’s Iran Diaz over 12 rounds to retain the WBC super flyweight world championship.
Jonas Vingegaard on Tuesday claimed the overall Vuelta a Espana lead while Jay Vine earned the stage 10 victory for his second triumph of the race. Two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard overhauled Torstein Traen’s lead to head the general classification by 26 seconds from the Norwegian, with Joao Almeida third and trailing the Dane by 38 seconds. Vine put in an unmatchable performance on the final climb to finish ahead of Spanish Movistar riders Pablo Castrillo and Javier Romo. “Back in red, I’m happy with it, it’s a beautiful jersey,” Vingegaard said. “I’m happy with how the day went,
Australian Alex de Minaur reached the second week of the US Open for the third year in a row with little fanfare on Saturday and said he intended to keep winning until the tournament organizers were forced to give him better billing. Despite being the eighth seed and a quarter-finalist last year at Flushing Meadows, De Minaur’s third-round match against German Daniel Altmaier was scheduled for Court 17 — the smallest of the four stadium venues in the precinct. “It is a little bit of a headscratcher for me. I’m not gonna lie,” he told reporters after progressing 6-7 (9/7), 6-3, 6-4,
RIVALRY: Carlos Alcaraz lost his previous two matches against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, in the Australian Open quarter-finals this year and Paris Olympics final last year Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday dazzled at the US Open to make the semi-finals before Novak Djokovic of Serbia danced his way through to book a New York showdown with the Spaniard that would mark the latest chapter in their generational rivalry. Former champion Alcaraz produced yet another entertaining display at Flushing Meadows to dismantle 20th seed Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 at a sunbathed Arthur Ashe Stadium, securing his place in the last four without dropping a set this year. “Sometimes I play a shot that I should not play in that moment, but it’s the way I love
Spain are in danger of not getting out of EuroBasket Group C after losing 67-63 to Italy on Tuesday, but the defending champions still control their destiny. Marco Spissu put Italy in front for good at 64-63 with two free throws with 31 seconds left and made two more with 14 seconds remaining. Giampaolo Ricci converted one of two free throws with eight seconds on the clock. Spain, which in 2022 won their fourth title, are tied with Georgia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina at 2-2 each. Greece and Italy have clinched two of the group’s four spots in the round-of-16,