WBA Asia champions Toan, Hoang to defend belts next month

Toan will take on World Boxing Council (WBC) No. 8 Garen Diagan from the Philippines for the World Boxing Association (WBA) Asia minimumweight (48kg) strap.

Hoang will go up against Korean No.1 and WBA Asia No. 11 Baek Dae Hyun for the super middleweight (76kg) WBA Asia belt.

Originally scheduled for February 26 in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak, the title fights were rescheduled for March 25 in Ho Chi Minh City after the provincial authorities declined to grant the necessary licence to the organisers.

This will be Toan's second title defence after he beat Filipino Jake Amparo on points after 12 rounds in Bangkok, Thailand.

The victory pushed him to the WBA's No. 8 place in the world rankings.

"Diagan is a strong rival who is rated a three-star fighter on Boxrec," Toan said. "His southpaw is good, and he has a powerful fighting style with strong punches that knocked out many rivals."

Diagan is a top athlete in his home country and No. 6 in the WBC rankings. The 26-year-old is No. 15 in the world, eight places higher than the Vietnamese representative.

Diagan has recorded nine wins (5KOs) and three losses (1KO).

He won a local professional championship in 2019 before challenging for the WBC Asia belt last July but came up short.

The March 25 match against Toan is his third continental title bout.

"This coming match is very important for me," said Toan, who has recorded six wins in his career. "It is a bout in which I will defend my title and gain more points to improve my world ranking."

"I am really focused on this fight. My coaching board and I have researched Diagan carefully and worked hard in preparation for the match."

Toàn is currently working with Do Dong, a coach from the Philipines who has played a role in converting Truong Dinh Hoang into Vietnam's first WBA East Asia and WBA Asia champion.

"Do Dong is a good, experienced coach," said Toan. "He has been contributing a lot to my development today. He clearly understands Filipino boxers, and it is one of my advantages in this match, which we set to win."

Toàn added his WBA world No. 8 was motivation for him to push on to fifth place and a potential world title fight.

"I hope people will come to support me, a Vietnamese warrior, on the ring that day."

In the later fight, 'The King' Truong Dinh Hoang will face Baek, the Republic of Korea's leading pro boxer.

The 25-year-old Korean is No. 102 of 1,371 boxers in his weight class in the world. He is 303 places higher than Hoang.

"My rival is No. 1 in my category (in WBA), but I will try my best not to let my supporters down," said Hoang, who has three knock-out wins from his three-year career as a professional.

The other fights on the card feature Nguyen Ngoc Hai, Do Ngoc Hoan, Lam Dat Phat and Doan Gia Thành.