Unbeaten Victory 8 champion Nguyen Van Duong consolidated his vast potential in 2019 with some great performances.
After winning the National Championships mid year, the Vietnam prodigy was thrown straight into some very deep waters at Victory 8 Hanoi.
Here he was pitted against the unbeaten Jenel Lausa, a man that was finding it difficult to get matched in his own country because of his 10 and 0 record, with 7 ending in violent KO.
The Philippines’ strong man, ominously named The Demolition Man, was also a UFC winner. Nguyen Van Duong, despite having no pro experience and being significantly outweighed, put on an outstanding boxing display to outpoint his crazy power opponent.
The VSP Boxing trained fighter was then tasked with going back to amateur format, where he competed in his first international tournament, securing a silver medal at the SEA Games.
It was a great event for Nguyen Van Duong, scoring devastating victories in the qualifying rounds en route to the final.
His minor blemish of only failing at the final hurdle still earned him great kudos, considering his freakish Thai opponent had won an unprecedented 4 consecutive gold medals, and who had also placed silver at the World Championships.
Nguyen Van Duong was scheduled to compete in a professional bout in Korea on Jan 18. After losing his original two opponents to “injury”, he was then matched with an unbeaten fighter boasting 4 emphatic wins.
Whilst fighting a young and unbeaten prospect in their home country is always a daunting task, Nguyen Van Duong immediately accepted the challenge!
After deliberation, the Koreans then came back and asked if the bout can be an exhibition, as they did not want to risk the chance of loss on their fighter’s record.
VSP Boxing declined the request on behalf of their Vietnam star, which culminated in the Korean team withdrawing from the bout.
This is sadly not an unfamiliar tale in the sport of boxing, where records are padded and there is no shortage of talking the talk, but a shameful shortage of walking the walk!
The Korean promoter has subsequently confirmed that they cannot find any boxer in Korea willing to challenge Nguyen Van Duong!
A winner even before the fight begins, expect to see the legend and legacy of Nguyen Van Duong to continue to grow in 2020.
He will now make his eagerly awaited professional debut in HCMC in April against a high talent international fighter.
