Frenchman Emmeric Dewaele won the World Boxing Association (WBA) Asian super middleweight crown after knocking out Thoedsak Sinam in five rounds Friday at the Mac Muaythai Stadium in Pattaya, Thailand. 

Dewaele connected with an uppercut that ended the bout in the fifth round and sealed a big victory in a fight that was close and quite hard-fought. 

At the time the stoppage the judges’ scorecards were 38-38, 39-37 and 38-38, evidencing the fight’s parity up to that point. 

Dewaele, who is a resident of Thailand, got a good win for his career and maintained his undefeated record. Now, he must face the Asian champion in recess of the category, Dinh-Hoang Truong, a fight that should take place in October in Vietnam, according to WBA Asia.