Botirjon Abdullaevich Akhmedov (; born 20 December 1990), better known as Batyr Akhmedov, and previously Batuhan Gözgeç, is a Russian

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 is a two-time

super-lightweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

world title challenger, having challenged for the

WBA (Regular) 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 ...

title in 2019, and the WBA title in 2022. As an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

he represented

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

at the

2016 Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Amateur career

He won the gold medal at the 2015 International Kadyrov Tournament held in

Grozny Grozny (, ; ) is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 328,533 — up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Russian Census, 2002 ce ...

Chechen Republic Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federal District, and share ...

, Russia. Akhmedov earned a quota spot for

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

after taking the bronze medal at the 2016 European Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament in

Samsun Samsun is a List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, city on the north coast of Turkey and a major Black Sea port. The urban area recorded a population of 738,692 in 2022. The city is the capital of Samsun Province which has a population of ...

, Turkey.

Professional boxing career

Akhmedov made his professional debut on 23 February 2017, scoring a third-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) over Dmitry Lavrinenko at the Forum in

Nizhny Tagil Nizhny Tagil ( rus, Нижний Тагил, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj tɐˈgʲil) is a classification of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located east of the Boundaries between the continents#Asia and Europe, boundary ...

, Russia. After compiling a record of 7–0 (6 KOs) he faced

Mario Barrios Mario Thomas Barrios (born May 18, 1995) is a Mexican-American professional boxer. He has held the World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight championship since 2024. Previously, he held the World Boxing Association (WBA) (Regular version) super li ...

for the vacant WBA (Regular) super-lightweight title on 28 September 2019 at the

Staples Center Crypto.com Arena (originally and colloquially known as Staples Center) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in downtown Los Angeles. Opened on October 17, 1999, as Staples Center, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along F ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. In a fight which saw Akhmedov have a knockdown scored against him after his gloves touched the canvas in the fourth round and a second knockdown in the twelfth and final round, Akhmedov lost via

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 fighte ...

(UD), a decision which many described as controversial. Judge Jeremy Hayes scored the bout 116–111, judge Tim Cheatham scored it 115–111, and judge Zachary Young scored it 114–112. Almost three years later, Akhmedov would challenge again for a vacant super-lightweight world title, this time the full WBA title against undefeated

Alberto Puello Alberto Puello Calderón (born 22 July 1994) is a Dominican professional boxer who held the World Boxing Association (WBA) super lightweight title from 2022 to 2023 and has held the World Boxing Council (WBC) super lightweight title since June 2 ...

on 20 August 2022. Puello won the fight by

split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split de ...

. Two judges scored the fight 117–111 for Puello, while the third judge scored the fight 115–113.

Professional boxing record

References

1990 births Living people Turkish male boxers Russian male boxers Light-welterweight boxers Welterweight boxers Uzbekistani people of Tatar descent Turkish people of Tatar descent Uzbekistani emigrants to Turkey Naturalized citizens of Turkey Fenerbahçe boxers Sportspeople from Qashqadaryo Region Boxers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for Turkey Tatar sportspeople 21st-century Russian sportsmen 21st-century Turkish sportsmen {{Turkey-boxing-bio-stub