WATCH: Saudi's First Pro Boxer Knows How to Take a Jab

CairoScene

07-06-2025

'I always knew I'd be more than a boxer,' Ziyad Elmaayouf tells SceneNowSaudi.
Ziyad Almaayouf is breaking down opponents and barriers. The first international Saudi professional boxer, nicknamed Zizo, fights with purpose, persistence, and a jab that sends shockwaves from Jeddah to the O2 Arena.
'I always knew I'd be more than a boxer,' he says. And he is. Ziyad isn't here to just win titles. From getting thrashed in LA sparring rings to making history in Riyadh, Ziyad's journey is soaked in blood, sweat, and self-belief.
He left family, comfort, and familiarity behind, trading them for 5 a.m. tears and punches that almost broke him. But he kept showing up. That was the secret. That's what caught the attention of Hall of Fame legend Buddy McGirt, who trained him not for talent, but for two things: 'Heart, and that jab.'
And oh, that jab. Triple-shot, precise, relentless. It's become his signature, his passport to rings around the world. As the saying goes, 'A good right hand takes you around the corner. A good jab takes you around the world.'
Ziyad's jab has taken him from a knockout debut in Jeddah to roaring crowds in Diriyah to toppling drug-fueled opponents in Los Angeles. He's gone toe-to-toe with decorated champions, stared defeat in the face, hit the canvas, and got up again. Every time.
He's not just the first Saudi pro boxer. He's a walking comeback story, a cultural shift in motion, and living proof that when the world expects you to stay down, you rise.
Ziyad Al Maayouf doesn't just know how to take a jab. He knows how to turn it into history.