KUALA LUMPUR: Hallo Fightlab fighter Haikal Salami kept his cool to defeat Thailand's Nong Ice Rodtang via technical knockout (TKO) at the Grand Final of the Kuda Merah International Muaythai Challenge 2024 King of the Ring yesterday.
Haikal, who is a form four student at SMK Teloi Kanan, Kedah, admitted he was nervous at the start of the fight but managed to control his emotions to defeat Nong.
Nong is the younger brother of ONE Championship champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon.
Haikal was all smiles after his win.
"I am very grateful because all of my hard work has paid off. My target is to compete at a higher level, such as in ONE Championship, one day," said Haikal.
"But it will not be easy as I have to train a lot more. Currently I am still in school so I have to arrange my training schedule carefully.
"Normally I study in the morning and start training in the afternoon."
Haikal said he has been training since he was nine under his father, Salami Nayan, who is also a Muay Thai coach at Felda Teloi Timur in Sik, Kedah.
Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul, who watched the bout, said he was proud of Haikal and hopes he can follow in the footsteps of Johan Ghazali Zulfikar, who fights in the ONE Championship series.---BERNAMA