Madoka Wada of TEAM10COUNT Boxing Gym, a former two-time bronze medalist in the women’s world amateur boxing championships, made a successful professional debut as she stopped Pimchanok Thepjanda of Thailand in the third round in an atomweight fight on Apr. 2 in Tokyo.

  The technical knockout of the scheduled eight-rounder at Korakuen Hall came 1 minute and 47 seconds into the round when the left-handed Wada landed a devastating straight left to the head, prompting the referee to call off the fight. Wada also scored a knockdown in the second round with a right hook.

  After the fight, Wada, 29, said from the ring, ‘’Though I started boxing with the aim of becoming the No. 1 in the world, I failed to achieve that as an amateur. That is why I turned pro.  Becoming a world champion in the professional world will be only the beginning of my professional career.’’

  Pimchanok, 20, fell to an 8-5 win-loss tally with five KOs.