Merdud Takalobighashi (born 23 September 1975 in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

) ( fa, مهرداد تکلوبیغشی), more commonly known as Merdud Takaloo or Takaloo, is an Iranian born

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, ...

based

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

Early life

Takaloo was born in 1975 in

Tehran, Iran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is th ...

. His family later fled the country in the late 1970s after the overthrow of the

Shah Shah (; fa, شاه, , ) is a royal title that was historically used by the leading figures of Iranian monarchies.Yarshater, EhsaPersia or Iran, Persian or Farsi, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) It was also used by a variety of ...

. His family arrived in the south of

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 ...

and he is now based in

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

Career

Takaloo boxed from an early age and won a number of amateur titles. In 1997, he became a professional boxer, losing two of his first seven bouts. At this time he changed trainers and joined Jimmy O'Donnell's gym in London. Takaloo is a showboat who had good head and body movement, but usually ended up looking bruised, battered but unbowed. His gutsy style made him a popular fighter in England. A one time world title contender and later

WBU The World Boxing Union (WBU) was a boxing sanctioning body. The original WBU was founded in January 1995 by IBF European representative, boxing journalist, actor and former holder of the title of Britain's heaviest man Jon W. Robinson. It sa ...

welterweight champion, Takaloo had problems obtaining a passport to fight outside the UK, but became a British citizen. As an amateur, he fought 72 times, winning 60 bouts, before turning professional in 1997. He won the fringe

light-middleweight world championship belt in 2001 by beating the then undefeated Anthony Farnell in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. Following that, Takaloo secured a shot with WBO champion Daniel Santos at

Cardiff Castle Cardiff Castle ( cy, Castell Caerdydd) is a medieval castle and Victorian Gothic revival mansion located in the city centre of Cardiff, Wales. The original motte and bailey castle was built in the late 11th century by Norman invaders on top ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

when he fought for the WBO and WBU light middleweight title. Takaloo lost this fight on points over twelve rounds. Takaloo then moved down to

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 ...

following defeats to Eugenio Monteiro and a chilling knockout loss to unpredictable puncher Wayne Alexander. This move seemed to have been a success as he won the vacant title against Turgay Uzun in February 2006 at the

ExCeL Centre ExCeL London (an abbreviation for Exhibition Centre London) is an exhibition centre, international convention centre and former hospital in the Custom House area of Newham, East London. It is situated on a site on the northern quay of the ...

London Docklands London Docklands is the riverfront and former docks in London. It is located in inner east and southeast London, in the boroughs of London Borough of Southwark, Southwark, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Tower Hamlets, London Borough of ...

, and subsequently retained the title against Irish fighter

Eamonn Magee Eamonn Magee (born 13 July 1971) is a retired Irish professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2007, Retrieved 1 July 2016. becoming the World Boxing Union Welterweight Champion in 2007. He also held the Commonwealth light-welterweight tit ...

on a points verdict. Takaloo lost the WBU welterweight championship to former British Champion Michael Jennings by a unanimous points decision on 7 April 2007 and a further TKO loss to

Anthony Small Anthony Small (also known as Abdul Haq) is a retired professional boxer and Islamic political activist who was born 20 June 1981 in Lewisham, London, England. He held both the British and Commonwealth belts at light middleweight. His was also r ...

on 12 January 2008.

Honours

* 2001

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 ...

Champion * 2006 WBU

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 ...

Champion

References

External links

*
Guardian Article : Triumph and despair
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Takaloo, Merdad 1975 births Living people British male boxers Iranian emigrants to the United Kingdom Light-middleweight boxers People from Margate Sportspeople from Tehran Welterweight boxers