Vietnamese, Tanzanian boxers to vie for IBA World Championship

The event is scheduled to take place at Trigger Boxing Gym in HCMC on July 18.

Thao, 28, said Majiha will be his toughest rival to date. The 27-year-old Tanzania boxer has competed in 44 professional matches with 26 wins, 14 losses and four draws and won the WBA Pan African Bantamweight championship in 2018.

The "Vietnamese Mayweather" has pocketed 13 wins and one loss.

A promotional poster for the IBA Bantamweight World Championship. Photo courtesy of Thao's Facebook.

After deciding to move up from super flyweight (51-52 kg) to super bantamweight (54-55 kg) to compete for World Boxing Council Australasian, Thao failed to defeat Australia's Billy Dib to bring home the title in late 2019, marking his first loss after 12 consecutive wins.

He managed to rebuild from this loss by beating Filipino boxer Aries Buenavidez at the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Asia Pacific match held in Cambodia during February last year.

Thao is the first local fighter to make his name internationally. He shot to fame after defeating Indonesia's George Lumoly to become the first Vietnamese boxer to win a World Boxing Council (WBC) Asia title in November 2017.

But he couldn't compete in the 2018 WBC championship after sustaining injuries from a traffic accident. Since he couldn't defend his title, organizers decided to strip him of the title.