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World Lethwei Federation
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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]
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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,[4] the WLF sanctioned the first-ever Lethwei fight and the first Lethwei world championship fight in the United States.[5] Dave Leduc defended his traditional Lethwei world title against the American Cyrus Washington at the Outlaw Saloon in Cheyenne, Wyoming.[6][7][8] In 2021, the Amateur Lethwei World Championship scheduled to be held August in Warsaw, Poland, was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic travelling restrictions.[9] On October 29, 2022, the WLF sanctioned the first-ever Lethwei World championship in Europe.[10] The match featured the Slovak Michal Kosik against the Canadian Daniel Lariviere in Brezno, Slovakia.[11]
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.[12][13] The match was scheduled to take place on May 27, 2023, in Banská Bystrica,[14] but was cancelled because Samnang was denied a Schengen visa to enter Slovakia.[15]
On July 8, 2023, the WLF to unveiled its inaugural Red belt for the world title fight between Ivan Hatala and Artur Saladiak.[16] "Boxing has the WBC Green belt, Lethwei has the WLF Red belt." said President Andi Egeberg.[17] Saladiak defeated Hatala by TKO in the fourth round and became the WLF Lightweight champion.[18]
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.[19][20][21][22]
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