Fighting for the second time in three days, Sylvie von Duuglas-Ittu scored one of the biggest wins of her Muay Thai career on Tuesday night at the prestigious Queen’s Cup in Bangkok, Thailand. Von Duuglas-Ittu defeated 15-year-old “Muay Thai Genius” Saya Ito in a five-round bout on the card.

Ito got off to a strong start on Tuesday, but von Duuglas-Ittu weathered the early storm from the Japanese star and Ito began to slow down as the fight progressed. Von Duuglas-Ittu took advantage by landing a series of knees in the clinch in rounds four and five en route to an impressive decision victory.

Von Duuglas-Ittu (45-26-3) started slowly in round one and Ito (78-12-3 amateur, 1-2-1 pro) pressured her with body kicks and a lengthy flurry of punches that backed von Duuglas-Ittu into a corner. Ito pressed forward with more body kicks later in the round and the fighters traded knees in the clinch.

Both women landed body kicks and clinch knees in the second round and von Duuglas-Ittu began to score with overhand rights. Ito held a slight edge in striking output with kicks to the upper body, but the momentum appeared to heading in von Duuglas-Ittu’s favour.

Ito continued to throw kicks to the body in round three and von Duuglas-Ittu countered with knees in the clinch and more overhand rights. Von Duuglas-Ittu secured more clinches in the latter half of the round and she racked up points with numerous knees to the midsection.

By round four, von Duuglas-Ittu had figured out the most effective strategy for dealing with Ito’s kicks. She kept Ito trapped in clinches and punished her with knees to the body. Ito broke free long enough to land a few more body kicks before von Duuglas-Ittu clinched with her again. This time, von Duuglas-Ittu landed knees to the face in addition to the body.

The final round was all von Duuglas-Ittu. The American veteran scored with knee after knee in the clinch as Ito slowed down. When Ito managed to create space, von Duuglas-Ittu landed kick-punch combos and clinched again. She threw Ito to the mat on two occasions before the end of the fight.

After five rounds of action, the judges awarded the decision win to von Duuglas-Ittu, who both earned one of her biggest career victories and also bounced back from a tough decision loss three days prior. Von Duuglas-Ittu has now won four of her past six fights.

Winner: Sylvie Von Duuglas-Ittu by Decision after five 2:00 rounds. She improves to 45-26-3.

(Photo & Video Credit: Sylvie Von Duuglas-Ittu)