Vietnam's first world champ punching out of poverty

Career crossroads

Six months after her triumph, Nhi's boxing career has arrived at a crossroads as she seeks to juggle professional bouts with amateur events.

Vietnamese athletes face the delicate task of balancing commitments to professional promoters with obligations to the state sports management authority.

Nhi told AFP that the WBO is set to strip her of her belt for failing to defend it within a mandatory 180-day window.

Instead, she opted to represent her country at the International Boxing Association amateur women's world championships, beginning on Monday in Turkey.

Nhi said she was not sad about losing the belt and, after pulling out of the South East Asian Games in Vietnam, which also begins this week, was fully focused on the worlds.

"My objective now is to win a medal in Turkey, to prove to all that I can go on both paths, amateur and professional," Nhi said.

Wherever her career heads, boxing has transformed Nhi's life－from once earning next to nothing she now has a stable income from the state as a professional athlete topped up by appearances on TV and entertainment shows.

"My objective," she said, "is saving enough to afford a small apartment or a house of my own."

AFP