Avni Yıldırım (born 5 August 1991) is a Turkish

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 fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

. He challenged for the WBC super-middleweight title in 2019, and the

WBA (Super) The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is an international professional boxing organization based in Panama. The WBA awards its world championship title at the professional level. Founded i ...

, WBC, and ''

Ring (The) Ring(s) may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell Arts, entertainment, and media Film and TV * ''The Ring'' (franchise), a ...

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

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, Germany as part of the

World Boxing Super Series The World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) is a professional boxing tournament organised by Comosa AG. Each weight class features eight boxers competing in an annual knockout competition with the champion from each weight class taking the Muhammad Al ...

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

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, 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 Anthony David Benavidez (born December 17, 1996) is an American professional boxer who has held world championships in two weight classes. He has held the World Boxing Association (WBA) light heavyweight title (WBA (Regular), Regular version) si ...

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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

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 Hard Rock Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in the Southeastern United States, located in Miami Gardens, Florida. The stadium is the home field for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL) and the Miami Hurricanes, the Univers ...

, Miami to face highly-regarded unified super-middleweight champion

Canelo Álvarez Santos Saúl Álvarez Barragán (; born 18 July 1990), commonly known as Canelo or Saúl Álvarez, is a Mexican professional boxer. He has held multiple quadruple champion#Boxing, world championships in four weight classes, from light middlewe ...

, 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 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 Boxers 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 21st-century Turkish sportsmen