10:45am Thursday 1st May 2008
AN ENGLAND international Muay Thai boxer from Bexleyheath has won the first ever ladies ringmaster contest at the Excel Centre in London.
Hayleigh-Jane Clarkson, 21, is a member of the Semtex Club in Swanley and emerged victorious after getting the better of the nine best fighters in the 57kg category.
The competitors were selected randomly to fight each other in the Muay Thai contest, which involves punching, kicking, elbows and knees with no head or shin guards.
Clarkson's reward for becoming the first woman to win the event was a belt of honour.
She said: "I am pleased to say that I won the first ever ladies ringmasters and walked away the champion and with the belt of honour, so I am pleased as I made history."
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