Akaash Bhatia (born 1 May 1983 in

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...

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 ...

) is a British-Indian

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...

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 ...

. He is the first ever professional British-Sikh boxer and the current

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Southern area featherweight champion.

Professional career

Bhatia turned professional in May 2006 in

York Hall, Bethnal Green The York Hall, officially known as York Hall Leisure Centre, is a multi-purpose indoor arena and leisure complex in Bethnal Green, London, and is situated on Old Ford Road. The building opened in 1929 with a capacity of 1,200 and is now an inte ...

, London. In his debut Bhatia defeated Kristian Laight on points over four rounds. He went on to win his next 11 straight fights before he fought for his first title which was the vacant

Southern area featherweight title. This fight came in November 2008 against Marc Callaghan at the Robin Park Centre in

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

and Bhatia won the fight with a second round

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 ...

of Callaghan. Akaash lost his last fight, an eliminator for the British title to Jamie Arthur on points. He later separated from his trainer and now trains with Jimmy Tibbs at the TKO gym. He is set to return to the ring in January.

References

External links

*
Official Akaash Bhatia website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhatia, Akaash 1983 births Living people British male boxers British people of Indian descent British people of Punjabi descent British Sikhs English people of Indian descent English people of Punjabi descent English Sikhs English male boxers Featherweight boxers Sportspeople from Loughborough