Editing Lethwei (section)

==== Opening to the world ====
From 7 to 12 July 2001, twelve years after [[Burma]] changed its name to [[Names of Myanmar#History|Myanmar]], the first international event took place in Yangon with professional fighters from the [[United States]] facing Burmese fighters under full traditional Lethwei rules. The delegation of three American fighters brought by the [[International Kickboxing Federation|IKF]] were [[Shannon Ritch]], Albert Ramirez and [[Doug Evans (fighter)|Doug Evans]]. Ritch faced Ei Htee Kaw, Ramirez faced Saw Thei Myo, and Evans faced openweight Lethwei champion [[Wan Chai (fighter)|Wan Chai]]. All three Americans lost to the Burmese. A revenge match with American and European fighters was cancelled the last minute by Lethwei promoters and the military in 2002.

From 10 to 11 July 2004, the second event headlining foreigners took place with four Japanese fighters fighting against Burmese fighters. They were [[mixed martial arts]] fighters [[Akitoshi Tamura]], Yoshitaro Niimi, Takeharu Yamamoto and Naruji Wakasugi. Tamura knocked out Aya Bo Sein in the second round and became the first foreigner to beat a Myanmar Lethwei practitioner in an official match. International matches continued with the exciting [[Cyrus Washington]] vs. Tun Tun Min trilogy.

In 2016, after having previously fought to an explosive draw, [[Dave Leduc]] and [[Tun Tun Min]] rematched at the ''Air KBZ Aung Lan Championship'' in Yangon, Myanmar. The rematch was sweetened by an added bonus: ownership of the Lethwei Openweight World Championship Belt.<ref name="Dave Leduc Champion">{{cite web|title=デーブ・レダックチャンピオン Dave Leduc Champion|url=https://miruhon.net/51700|website=The Weekly Fight Japan|date=12 December 2016}}</ref> Leduc became the first non-Burmese fighter to win the Lethwei Golden Belt and become Lethwei world champion after defeating Tun Tun Min in the third round.<ref name="myanmar">{{cite news|author=Kyaw Zin Hlaing|url=http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/sports/24187-myanmar-s-lethwei-goliath-toppled-by-canadian-dave.html|title=Myanmar's lethwei goliath toppled by Canadian 'Dave' |date=13 December 2016|website=[[Myanmar Times]]}}</ref><ref name="Champion du monde">{{cite news|url=http://www.journallarevue.com/sports/2016/12/20/tout-sauf-de-la-chance-pour-dave-leduc.html|title=Tout sauf de la chance pour Dave Leduc|author=Anthony Da Silva-Casimiro|date=20 December 2016|work=La Revue|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612162416/https://www.journallarevue.com/sports/2016/12/20/tout-sauf-de-la-chance-pour-dave-leduc.html|archive-date=June 12, 2018|url-status=usurped}}</ref>

Following his title defence, Leduc said in an interview, "I have so much vision for this sport. I see Lethwei doing the same for Myanmar as what Muay Thai has done for Thailand."<ref name="the fight nation">{{cite web|last1=Eaton|first1=Matt|title=Embracing tradition: The rise of LethweiI|url=http://www.thefightnation.com/embracing-tradition-the-rise-of-lethwei/|website=The Fight Nation|date=18 April 2017}}</ref>

On 18 April 2017, for his second title defense under traditional rules,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://miruhon.net/64893|title=Weigh ins for Lethwei in Japan 3 GRIT - 明日開催！第3回日本ラウェイ大会『ラウェイinジャパン 3 ～GRIT～』後楽園ホール大会！計量と公開記者会見終了|website=The Weekly Fight|date=17 April 2017}}</ref> [[Dave Leduc]] faced [[Turkish Australians|Turkish Australian]] challenger Adem Yilmaz at [[2017 in ILFJ#Lethwei in Japan 3: Grit|Lethwei in Japan 3: Grit]] in [[Tokyo]], [[Japan]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://miruhon.net/64893|title=4・18『Lethwei in Japan 3 ～GRIT～』全対戦7カード発表！ミャンマーvs.日本（4対4）vs.USA（2対2）にカナダの現ラウェイ王者が再参戦！相手は第1回大会参戦のオーストラリア選手！ – 週刊ファイト|website=The Weekly Fight|date=3 March 2017}}</ref><ref name="the fight nation"/> This marked the first Lethwei World title fight headlining two non-Burmese in the sport's history and for the occasion, the Ambassador of [[Myanmar]] to Japan was present at the event held in the [[Korakuen Hall]].<ref name="Myanma Allin Daily">{{cite journal|date=21 April 2017|title=Lethwei in Japan 3 GRIT|trans-title=Lethwei in Japan 3 GRIT is the third tournament is Japan|url=http://www.free4reader.com/issue_detail.php?id=10002|language=my|journal=Myanma Allin Daily}}</ref>