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pic ContakomarcialValentina Shevchenko lives in and trains in Peru but her MuayThai career started in her home country of Kyrgyzstan. And right now she's back home in Issyk-Kul preparing for her Muaythai Premier League fight on Saturday in Holland.

Valentina, what's your fight record?
Professional fight record is 38 wins, 1 loss. And for amateur fights, I have more than 500 fights in different styles. (This includes gold at the IFMA championships in 2009, WMF champ in 2006 and various kick-boxing and titles)


pic MarcaBut even though you started with Taekwando as a child, now MuayThai is your main sport. What's so special about it?
Because muaythai is an accessible and universal style.

You're up in the mountains now getting ready for your fight against local girl Ilona Wijmans. What kind of training are you doing?
I am training up for this Holland fight in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan at the very beautiful high mountain lake Issyk-Kul. I have two training sessions a day. Before the main morning training I do cross-running. Then I train for technique under the guidance of my coach Pavel Fedotov. My sparring partner is my elder sister Antonina and also some more fighters from Kyrgyz national team.
In the evening my training is at an outdoor place - from where there is a very beautiful view of the mountains and the lake. In the evenings my training is more physical, for example I like to use stones as weight for arms.


You travelled first to Peru in 2007 and now it's your permanent base. Can you do MuayThai professionally there?Peru is a very good country with interesting people living in it. There are different climatic zones in Peru. We live in the capital - Lima. And also we run our training in jungles near the Amazon river. We give Muaythai classes and seminars in different cities too.

What do you think about the MuayThai Premier League?
I think this project is strong and very interesting. In it the best Muaythai fighters in the world can show their best qualities. And people around the world can watch quality traditional Muaythai techniques.


The final round of the MPL takes place on Saturday, with Sandra Bastian Vs Julie Kitchen and Valentina Shevchenko Vs Ilona Wijmans ... and some boys.

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