Posing in the jungle with a gun in hand, one of Myanmar’s best martial arts prospects has implored her fellow athletes to take a stand against the regime.
Bozhena Antoniyar, 25, from Kayah capital Loikaw came to prominence under MMA promotion ONE Championship after she knocked out her first opponent in under 30 seconds in 2018.
Now it appears she has joined at least hundreds – and possibly thousands – of protesters reported to have enrolled on combat courses with some of Myanmar’s ethnic armed groups in a bid to fight back against the military.
Led by dictator Min Aung Hlaing, the Tatmadaw has killed at least 759 civilians, according to activist group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, and terrorised the population since seizing power from an elected government on February 1.
The two-time Myanmar boxing champion told Than Lwin Khet News she wanted all Myanmar athletes to participate in the civil disobedience movement so the junta could not bask in the afterglow of their sporting achievements.
“I do not want my fellow colleagues to represent this so-called military council,” she said. “You may think since you are an athlete that politics does not matter to you. This is not true. I don't want athletes to have this mindset of not being political. It's because we are born in this country, we live in this country, and we hold passports issued by the country.
“The country's issue is our issue. While everyone is on the frontlines fighting, it would be very selfish of us to not do something for our country. That's why we all should fight and persevere for what's right."
The move comes after 26-year-old freestyle swimmer Win Htet Oo vowed to skip the Tokyo Olympics in protest against the coup, refusing to represent the nation when the military was slaughtering innocents.
Antoniyar, who goes by the nickname “To To,” has trained at Bali MMA in Indonesia and thrilled crowds with her performances at Yangon’s Thuwunna Stadium.
The atomweight made an instant and unforgettable impression in March by scoring a technical knockout against her opponent 24 seconds into the match.
The feat was written into ONE’s record books as the fastest finish in women’s history and Antoniyar returned victorious to Yangon where she taught boxing for the next six months.
Her family are subsistence farmers and it’s this hard-working background that she credits with giving her the drive to succeed in combat. A trailblazer for Myanmar women’s combat, she began training in the striking sport of lethwei at the age of 16 and has helped lift Myanmar’s fledgling MMA scene.
