India’s Kulbir Dhaka pulled off an upset on Thursday at the SpacePlus Bangkok RCA Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, defeating Pakistan’s Shahir Afridi by unanimous decision in a close fight to win the WBA South Asia bantamweight belt. 

Although Afridi came in as the favorite in this bout, he was surprised by the steady work of Dhaka, who came out to give his all in the ring from the first moment and managed to pull out a victory with scores of 96-94 on all the judges’ scorecards. 

The 23-year-old Indian fighter took advantage of his international experience and the quality of opponents he had faced to get the better of himself and prevail in a close battle. 

With the win, Dhaka’s record now stands at 8 wins, 2 losses and 4 knockouts. For his part, Afridi lost his undefeated record and now has 9 wins, 1 loss, 1 draw and 5 knockouts.