Home News Thai boxer Focus wins historic Asian Games gold

Thai boxer Focus wins historic Asian Games gold

Thailand's Natnicha Chongprongklang, in red, and North Korea's Pang Chol Mi, in blue, fight in their women's 54kg boxing final match at the Asian Games in Nishio, Aichi prefecture, Japan, Friday, Oct. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Thai-New Zealand boxer Nattanicha Jongprongklang, known as Focus, won Thailand’s 15th gold medal at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games on Friday.

Nattanicha defeated North Korea’s Pang Chol-mi 4-1 in the women’s 54kg final after three rounds.

Pang, a two-time world flyweight champion in 2018 and 2025, also won bronze in the women’s bantamweight division at the 2024 Olympics.

Nattanicha looked to land clean punches throughout the bout but was knocked down once in the second round as Pang launched a series of attacks.

The Thai fighter recovered and completed the three rounds before the judges awarded her a 4-1 victory.

The gold makes Nattanicha the first Thai female boxer to win an Asian Games gold medal since women’s boxing was first included in the Games in 2010.

It is also Thailand’s first and only medal in boxing at the Aichi-Nagoya Games so far.