Avni Yıldırım (born 5 August 1991) is a Turkish professional boxer. He challenged for the IBO

super-middleweight Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pounds ( ...

title in 2017, the

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super-middleweight title in 2019, and the WBA (Super), WBC, and ''

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'' magazine super-middleweight titles in 2021.

Professional career

Yıldırım vs. Eubank Jr.

Yıldırım compiled a perfect record of 16-0 before challenging

Chris Eubank Jr. Christopher Livingstone Eubank Jr (born 18 September 1989) is a British professional boxer. He has held multiple championships in two weight classes, including the WBA interim middleweight title twice between 2015 and 2021; the IBO super-midd ...

for his IBO super-middleweight title on 7 October 2017 in

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, Germany as part of the World Boxing Super Series. Eubank Jr. was ranked #4 by the WBC and the IBF and #8 by the WBA. He was knocked down by Eubank Jr. in the first round, before being knocked out two rounds later.

Yıldırım vs. Mock

Yıldırım beat Lolenga Mock by majority decision in their 12 round contest on 15 September, 2018. Mock was ranked #15 by the WBC at super middleweight at the time.

Yıldırım vs. Dirrell

Yıldırım rebounded from his first professional career loss with a run of five consecutive victories to improve to 21-1, before challenging

Anthony Dirrell Anthony Dirrell (born October 14, 1984) is an American professional boxer. He was a two-time WBC super middleweight champion, having held the title in 2019 and previously from 2014 to 2015. He is the younger brother of 2004 Olympic bronze medal ...

for the vacant WBC super-middleweight title on 23 February 2019 in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, Minnesota. Dirrell was ranked #1 by the WBC at the time. After Dirrell was cut from an accidental head clash, the fight was stopped in the tenth round, with Dirrell emerging as the victor by split technical decision (96-94, 96-94, 92-98). Yıldırım was not happy with the stoppage, stating “I was upset. I wanted to keep going and finish the fight as a champion.” Yıldırım's promoter, Ahmet Oener, flew to Mexico City to meet with WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman to make their case for an immediate rematch. The WBC ultimately decided to resolve the matter by ordering a title fight between Dirrell and David Benavidez with the winner being mandated to face Yıldırım. However, Yıldırım was sidetracked by injury and the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

while maintaining his mandatory position.

Yıldırım vs. Álvarez

Following a layoff of over two years, Yıldırım returned to the ring on 27 February 2021 at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami to face highly-regarded unified super-middleweight champion Canelo Álvarez, again challenging for the WBC super-middleweight title which now belonged to Álvarez, in addition to Álvarez's WBA (Super) and ''The Ring'' titles. A huge underdog, Yıldırım was unable to overcome the odds as his opponent proved too much for him. Yıldırım retired on his stool at the end of the third round, having landed only 11 punches total in the fight, compared to Álvarez's 67.

Yıldırım vs. Cullen

Yıldırım faced

Jack Cullen John Patrick Cullen (born October 6, 1939 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American retired professional baseball player. The right-handed pitcher appeared in 19 games in Major League Baseball as a member of the New York Yankees (1962, 1965–66). ...

as part of Fight Camp in Brentwood, England on 31 July 2021. He lost a wide unanimous decision, with scores of 100-90, 98-92, 97-93 all in favor of Cullen.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

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Avni Yıldırım - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
a
Box.Live
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yildirim, Avni 1991 births Living people Competitors at the 2013 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Turkey Mediterranean Games medalists in boxing Super-middleweight boxers Turkish male boxers Sportspeople from Sivas