Abass Baraou (born 28 October 1994) is a German

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who has held the

WBC WBC may stand for: Business *Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, a former large India broadcaster now folded into CBS *Westpac (New Delhi Exchange code: WBC), a multinational Financial services company *Wholesale Broadband Connect, BT Wholesale's ...

International

light-middleweight Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the International Boxing Federation, IBF or ...

title since 2019. As an amateur he won a bronze medal at the 2017 World Championships and a gold at the 2017 European Championships, both while competing at welterweight.

Early life

Baraou was born on 28 October 1994 in

Aalen Aalen () is a former Free Imperial City located in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg, about east of Stuttgart and north of Ulm. It is the seat of the Ostalbkreis district and is its largest town. It is also the large ...

, Germany. Shortly after his birth, his family returned to their homeland of

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

, where he spent the first nine years of his life before moving back to Germany and settling in

Oberhausen Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Rout ...

. When he was 13 years old, the energetic Baraou attended a trial boxing training session offered at a youth center near his apartment. Although he didn't like it all that much, thinking it was too boring, he was spotted by a trainer that saw him hit the punching bag and persuaded him to continue training with him. He became the first German in seven years to win a gold medal at the continental stage when he took first place in the welterweight event at the 2017 European Championships in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, upsetting the favorite

Pat McCormack Pat McCormack may refer to: * Pat McCormack (boxer, born 1946) * Pat McCormack (boxer, born 1995) See also * Pat McCormick (disambiguation) * Patty McCormack Patricia McCormack (born Patricia Ellen Russo in 1945) is an American actress with ...

in the final. Later that year at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

he reached the semi-finals of the welterweight tournament, where he fell to two-time Olympic medalist

Roniel Iglesias Roniel Iglesias Sotolongo (born 14 August 1988) is a Cuban boxer, best known for winning the junior world title at lightweight in 2006, a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and a gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. He ...

. He was also a three-time national champion and a three-time winner of the prestigious Chemistry Cup.

Amateur results

*2012 Youth National Championships in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, Germany (welterweight) ** Defeated Sandro Thalmann 22–10 ** Defeated Hasan Ozer AB2 ** Defeated Johannes Simsch 21–10 *2012 Brandenburg Youth Cup in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, Germany (welterweight) ** Defeated Adam Sakhnini (Sweden) 14–8 ** Defeated Michał Ostrowski (Poland) 18–8 ** Lost to Igor Kharitonov (Russia) 9–15 * 2012 Youth World Championships in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

, Armenia (welterweight) ** Defeated Yurik Mikaelyan (Armenia) 22–14 ** Defeated Manjeet Singh (India) RSC2 ** Lost to Osman Aydin (Turkey) 9–14 *2013 U-21 National Championships in

Moers Moers (; older form: ''Mörs''; archaic Dutch language, Dutch: ''Murse'', ''Murs'' or ''Meurs'') is a German List of cities and towns in Germany, city on the western bank of the Rhine, close to Duisburg. Moers belongs to the district of Wesel (d ...

, Germany (welterweight) ** Defeated Besir Ay 3–0 ** Defeated Jan Ualikhanov 3–0 ** Defeated Malek Ezzeldinne 3–0 *2014 Chemistry Cup in Halle, Germany (welterweight) ** Defeated Slawa Kerber (Germany) 2–1 ** Defeated Michael Gunitzberger (Austria) 3–0 ** Defeated Stephen Donnelly (Republic of Ireland) 2–1 ** Defeated Liu Wei (China) 2–0 *2014 U-21 National Championships in Moers, Germany (welterweight) ** Defeated Daniel Kornmeier TKO2 ** Defeated Hrach Movsisyan 2–1 ** Defeated Olcay Simsek 3–0 *2014 National Championships in

Straubing Straubing () is an independent city in Lower Bavaria, southern Germany. It is seat of the district of Straubing-Bogen. Annually in August the Gäubodenvolksfest, the second largest fair in Bavaria, is held. The city is located on the Danube form ...

, Germany (welterweight) ** Defeated Darian Neumann TKO2 ** Defeated Harun Guler 3–0 ** Defeated Slawa Kerber 3–0 *

2015 European Games The 2015 European Games, also known as Baku 2015 or Baku 2015 European Games ( az, Bakı 2015 Avropa Oyunları), were the inaugural edition of the European Games, an international multi-sport event for athletes representing the National Olympic ...

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

, Azerbaijan (

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

) ** Defeated Andrei Hartsenko (Estonia) 3–0 ** Lost to

Parviz Baghirov Parviz Baghirov (born 10 February 1994) is an Azerbaijani boxer. He competed in the men's welterweight event at the 2016 Summer Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 ...

(Azerbaijan) 0–3 *2015 Chemistry Cup in Halle, Germany (welterweight) ** Defeated Viktor Agateljan (Czech Republic) 3–0 ** Defeated Igor Nesterov (Ukraine) 3–0 ** Lost to

Byambyn Tüvshinbat Byambyn Tüvshinbat ( mn, Бямбын Түвшинбат; born 27 March 1987 in Ulaanbaatar) is a Mongolian boxer. He competed in the 2007 and 2011 Asian Amateur Boxing Championships (winning silver in 2007 and bronze in 2011), the 2006 and 20 ...

(Mongolia) 1–2 *2015 National Championships in Straubing, Germany (welterweight) ** Defeated Alan Unadzhev 3–0 ** Defeated Arthur Krischanowski TKO3 ** Defeated Slawa Kerber 3–0 *2016 Chemistry Cup in Halle, Germany (welterweight) ** Defeated

(Mongolia) 3–0 ** Defeated Ilya Ochkin (Kazakhstan) 3–0 ** Defeated

Andrey Zamkovoy Andrey Viktorovoich Zamkovoy ( rus, Андрей Викторович Замковой, , ɐnˈdrʲeɪ̯ zəmkɐˈvoɪ̯; born 4 July 1987) is a Russian amateur boxer, best known for winning gold at the 2019 AIBA World Boxing Championships. Car ...

(Russia) WO ** Defeated

Arajik Marutjan Arajik Marutjan (born 15 August 1992) is an amateur welterweight boxer who represents Germany. In 2013, he won a bronze medal at the world championships and a silver at the European championships. He was eliminated in the first bout at the 2016 ...

(Germany) WO *2016 Beogradski Pobednik in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, Serbia (welterweight) ** Defeated Roberto Queiroz (Brazil) 2–1 ** Lost to Daniyar Eleusinov (Kazakhstan) 1–2 * 2016 World Olympic Qualifying Tournament in

, Azerbaijan (welterweight) ** Defeated Josh Nyika (New Zealand) KO ** Defeated

Eumir Marcial Eumir Felix de los Santos Marcial (born October 29, 1995) is a Filipino boxer. While representing the Philippines as an amateur, he won a silver medal at the 2019 World Championships and bronze at the 2020 Summer Olympics, both in the middlewe ...

(Philippines) 2–1 ** Defeated Bahtiyor Mirzomukhammad (Tajikistan) 3–0 ** Lost to Imre Bacskai (Hungary) 0–3 *2016 National Championships in Straubing, Germany (welterweight) ** Defeated Olcay Simsek 3–0 ** Defeated Elah Al-Magamseh TKO3 ** Defeated Magomed Schachidov 3–0 ** Defeated Jonathan Zumbe 3–0 *2017 Chemistry Cup in Halle, Germany (welterweight) ** Defeated Sergey Margaryan (Russia) UD ** Defeated Xavier Kohlen (Netherlands) UD ** Defeated

Ablaikhan Zhussupov Ablaikhan Zhussupov ( kz, Абылайхан Қайратұлы Жүсіпов; born 10 January 1997) is a Kazakhstani boxer. He competed in the men's light welterweight event at the 2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos O ...

(Kazakhstan) MD *2017 Beogradski Pobednik in Belgrade, Serbia (welterweight) ** Defeated Sion Yaxley (Wales) 5–0 ** Defeated

Vasile Belous Vasilii Belous (27 August 1988 – 31 August 2021) was a Moldovan boxer. At the 2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport even ...

(MLD) RSCI3 ** Defeated Maulen Oskenbek (Kazakhstan) 5–0 ** Defeated

(Russia) WO * 2017 European Championships in

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Alexandros Tsanikidis (Greece) 4–1 ** Defeated

Vincenzo Mangiacapre Vincenzo Mangiacapre (born 17 January 1989 in Marcianise) is an Italian light welterweight amateur boxer, who won bronze at the 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships and the 2012 Olympics. Biography In June he won Bronze at the 2011 European ...

(Italy) 3–2 ** Defeated

(Moldova) 5–0 ** Defeated

(England) 4–1 * 2017 World Championships in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany (

) ** Defeated Juan Solano (Dominican Republic) 4–0 ** Defeated

(Mongolia) 5–0 ** Lost to

(Cuba) 1–4

Professional career

Baraou made his professional debut under legendary trainer

Ulli Wegner Ulli Wegner (born 26 April 1942, in Stettin) is a German Boxing Coach and a former Amateur boxer. Biography Ulli Wegner grew up in former East Germany, where he first learned to box. He had a total of 176 amateur fights: between 1961 and 1963 ...

on 28 April 2018, defeating undefeated compatriot Artur Mueller via fourth-round

technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

(TKO) at the Baden Arena in

Offenburg Offenburg ("open borough" - coat of arms showing open gates; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemmanic: ''Offäburg'') is a city located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With nearly 60,000 inhabitants (2019), it is the largest city and the ad ...

. In his second fight he took the German

title from Denis Krieger (14–5–2, 9 KO) with a ten-round

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighter ...

(UD) victory over the Moldovan-born fighter. As the final bell rang, Krieger spat at Baraou and insulted him in the post-fight interview. The

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

crowd booed him as he offered the fans in attendance both

middle finger The middle finger, long finger, second finger, third finger, toll finger or tall man is the third digit of the human hand, located between the index finger and the ring finger. It is typically the longest digit. In anatomy, it is also called ...

s several times while exiting the venue. Four months later, on 6 October, Baraou retained his belt against Robert Maess (22–1, 20 KO), the man Krieger had originally beaten for the title in January. He knocked his opponent down with a powerful left in the second round, and even though Maess was saved by the bell, he retired in his corner to give Baraou the victory. On 16 February 2019, less than ten months after his pro debut, he defeated Mexican former world champion Carlos Molina by unanimous decision after twelve rounds for the vacant

International light-middleweight title. In May he defeated former IBO world champion

Ali Funeka Ali Mziyanda Funeka (born 28 March 1978) is a South African professional boxer. He held the IBO welterweight world title from 2014 to 2015, previously challenged three times for a lightweight world title between 2009 and 2010, and held the Sout ...

, stopping the 41-year-old veteran in the fifth round. He followed that up with his first fight abroad, a TKO victory over Egyptian prospect Abdelghani Saber (8–0–1, 8 KO) at the Caesars Palace in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

. After Baraou dropped him once in the first round, he floored him again with a body shot in the second that he was not able to get up from. One and a half months later he defended his WBC International title against John O'Donnell on the undercard of the

Regis Prograis Regis Prograis ( ; born January 24, 1989) is an American professional boxer. He has held the WBC super lightweight title since November 2022, and previously the WBA super lightweight title in 2019. As of February 2021, he is ranked as the world ...

–

Josh Taylor Josh or Joshua Taylor may refer to: * Josh Taylor (actor) (born 1943), American comedy and dramatic television actor * Josh Taylor (baseball) (born 1993), American professional baseball pitcher * Josh Taylor (boxer) (born 1991), Scottish profession ...

World Boxing Super Series super lightweight final at

The O2 Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as the O2 (stylised as The O2 arena), is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of the O2 entertainment complex on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the s ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Baraou sent him to the canvas late in the sixth round, and continued his attack after O'Donnell got to his feet, prompting the referee to stop the fight with one second left in the period. After a main event stoppage victory over Mexican rival Abraham Juarez in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

in January 2020, Baraou moved to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to train under the tutelage of highly regarded coach

Adam Booth Adam Booth is a British boxing trainer. He boxed amateur at Winston Churchill ABC, Croydon ABC and the Lynn ABC. Approximately 40+ bouts. Turned professional and suffered career ending injury prior to debut. Biography He is best known as the f ...

. His second title defense was announced for 4 April against Nick Klappert (28–3, 15 KO), but was canceled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Germany The COVID-19 pandemic in Germany has resulted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and deaths. On 27 January 2020, the first case in Germany was confirmed near Munich, Bavaria. By mid February, the arising cluster of cases had been fully containe ...

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baraou, Abass Living people 1994 births German male boxers Light-middleweight boxers AIBA World Boxing Championships medalists Boxers at the 2015 European Games European Games competitors for Germany German people of Togolese descent People from Aalen Sportspeople from Stuttgart (region) Sportspeople from Oberhausen