Latest news with #LabinotXhoxhaj
The Independent
6 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Who is Mourad Aliev? Meet Frazer Clarke's Olympic rival fighting for European heavyweight title
Mourad Aliev will take on Labinot Xhoxhaj this weekend at the Universum gym in Hamburg for the EBU European and WBC International Silver heavyweight titles. With the heavyweight division set for a big shake-up this summer, Aliev is one of the promising fighters toiling away to get himself into the conversation for a world title shot. Ahead of his first try at continental honours, here is everything you need to know about Mourad Aliev. Who is Mourad Aliev? Nationality : France Age : 29 Stance : Southpaw Aliev is a recent graduate of the French Olympic boxing programme, turning pro in the heavyweight division shortly after the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. He is under the Universum banner and has fought almost all of his career out of Germany, aside from one fight in Turkey. Record Total fights : 13 Wins : 13 Losses : 0 Knockouts : 10 Aliev had a short but successful amateur career, mixing it with some of the best the super heavyweight division had to offer, including Dainier Pero, Frazer Clarke and Bakhodir Jalolov. He claimed a silver medal at the 2019 European championships and earned a spot at the 2020 Olympic Games for France. After he progressed to the quarterfinals, he was faced with Frazer Clarke, whom he had fought three times, winning only once. It looked as though Aliev was going to even the score with Clarke, until he was disqualified for an alleged headbutt. Aliev gained notoriety for staging a protest - refusing to leave the ring for an hour to demonstrate his disdain for what he believed was an injustice. Once his wounds had healed, he turned over and fought like a man with a point to prove, winning four of his first six fights inside the distance and claiming the WBC Mediterranean belt - his first honours. He added another WBC trinket to his collection in 2023, knocking out Ali Kiyidin in the ninth round to win the WBC International Silver title that he currently holds. The biggest win of his career so far came against Evgenios Lazaridis in 2023, defending his title via unanimous decision in Germany. Lazaridis pushed the WBC Interim champion, Agit Kabayel, all the way three years earlier. Aliev is on a five-fight knockout streak headed into his next fight, after most recently knocking out Davide Brito in Hamburg and is currently ranked in the top ten with the WBC - ahead of the likes of Deontay Wilder, Andy Ruiz Jr and Jared Anderson.
The Independent
6 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Who is Labinot Xhoxhaj, the heavyweight boxing champion of Europe?
When Labinot Xhoxhaj steps into the ring on Saturday night at the Universum Gym in Hamburg, he will do so as a champion that no one expected. Least of all Xhoxhaj, 20-0-1 (16), who came into the ring at short notice last November to outpoint Oleksandr Zakhozhyi in Heidelberg, Germany (some transparency here – I was the ringside commentator for that match, just like I'll be doing the same this weekend in Hamburg). Zakhozhyi had won the European heavyweight title some seven months before when he stopped Granit Shala in two rounds in Berlin. At 6'9' and usually weighing somewhere around 250lbs, the Ukrainian seemed to have as good a chance at any moving towards world-title contention. Catch all the latest boxing action on DAZN It had been in Germany, too, that Zakhozhyi had largely spent his career ticking around the various cards and cities, fighting a mix of gatekeepers (Evgenios Lazaridis, Irineu Beato Costa Junior) and one former contender (Kevin Johnson). But then came Heidelberg, and Zakhozhyi came unstuck. He looked almost disinterested in the ring, as if the removal of his original opponent, Arnold Gjergjaj, had deflated him a little. It was possible that someone around him had given the reassurance that Xhoxhaj was even less of a threat. And if so, that thought was one that Zakhozhyi had taken a little too close to his heart. It would have been an easy, lazy prediction to make. Xhoxhaj's record had been built largely in Switzerland, where the big stars almost never visit. And the only name on his record with any faint recognition on it was that of Tamas Lodi, whom Lawrence Okolie stopped in three rounds in 2019. Xhoxhaj started appearing on German cards regularly in 2023, although his second fight here was a draw against the under-sized Milosav Savic. He kept on then, working through fighters whose records resembled that of see-saws, almost the same on both sides: Anton Sjomkin, 14-17-1; Semir Dautovic, 6-2-2; Vaclav Trojacek, 6-4-1. But once Gjergjaj was out, Xhoxhaj came in at last minute. And he outworked Zakhozhyi that night in Heidelberg. He went down in the second round from a left hook, but then he got up and kept on pushing, and he slung long, looping right hands that landed again and again on the Ukrainian and stung him here and there. And then the Ukrainian took one in the tenth round, and he went down then, seemingly in sections. Getting back to his feet, beyond tired and moving into exhausted, Zakhozhyi knew in the last two rounds that he had lost. Xhoxhaj was champion of Europe. And it was a title that meant something, even if no one was quite sure what it meant. And, coming this Saturday, Xhoxhaj defends against Mourad Aliev, 13-0 (10), another oversized man with a better background for a whom an easy and lazy prediction would be that he will work through him. Watch the very best boxing with a DAZN subscription DAZN is the home of combat sports, broadcasting over 185 fights a year from the world's best promoters, including Matchroom, Queensberry, Golden Boy, Misfits, PFL, BKFC, GLORY and more. An Annual Saver subscription is a one-off cost of £119.99 / $224.99 (for 12 months access), that's just 64p / $1.21 per fight. There is also a Monthly Flex Pass option (cancel any time) at £24.99 / $29.99 per month. A subscription includes weekly magazine shows, comprehensive fight library, exclusive interviews, behind-the-scenes documentaries, and podcasts and vodcasts.
