Nadeem Siddique (born 28 October 1977) English professional boxer of Pakistani origin

Personal life

Siddique was born in Bradford,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He supports his local football team

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...

and his favorite boxer is

Sugar Ray Robinson Walker Smith Jr. (May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989), better known as Sugar Ray Robinson, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. He is often regarded ...

Amateur career

As an amateur Siddique was a 5-time Yorkshire Champion, 2x English Champion, England Schoolboy Captain and National Schoolboy Champion.

Professional career

He made his boxing debut in 2002, and competed at both

light-welterweight 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, ...

, and

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 ...

where he went on to win the

BBBofC The British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC) is the governing body of professional boxing in the United Kingdom. History The British Boxing Board of Control was formed in 1929 from the old National Sporting Club and is headquartered in Cardiff ...

Central Area welterweight title by way of 4th-round TKO. He was also British Masters Champion. Siddique prepared for a fight against undefeated Julius Odion, however the fight was cancelled. His first loss came on his 22nd fight at the hands of then undefeated champion Martin Gethin. He came back to fight after a year off boxing for his 23rd fight against Tom Glover, an opponent he had previously defeated. Siddique was disqualified due to continuous low-blows and subsequently put boxing on hold due to a back injury. Siddique has said he has intentions of returning to boxing, stating; '...I've a lot to prove...I'll be back. I had a horrible back injury so it has been a nightmare... I'm still training, I'm nowhere near done...' Siddique is now on the comeback trail with 3 fights and 3 wins and is on the verge of a major championship fight.

Championships held

* Central Area welterweight champion * British Masters champion

Life outside boxing

Siddique is the founder of 'Make the Weight' gym; the opening of the gym was attended by boxer

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is con ...

in whose honor Siddique staged a 3-hour-long dinner-show with many A-list celebrities also in attendance. The event was dedicated to Qasim Rahman, a Tyson fan who had died just as the two prepared to meet. In 2009, Siddique along with

Junior Witter Junior Witter (born 10 March 1974) is a British former world champion professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2015. He held the WBC light welterweight world title from 2006 to 2008 and challenged once for the IBF light welterweight title ...

organized a charity event where they washed cars to help raise money for the victims of

Gaza Gaza may refer to: Places Palestine * Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip ** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Lebanon * Ghazzeh, a village in ...

; Siddique had hosted a similar event in 2005 for the people of

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East J ...

and

whereby he raised £52,000. He stated 'Me and Junior have been doing loads of things for charities and with our popularity in Bradford we always raise quite a few quid...'. The boxers later took part in a charity run to help raise funds for the same cause.

References

External links

Official Website {{DEFAULTSORT:Siddique, Nadeem English male boxers English people of Pakistani descent Living people Sportspeople from Bradford 1977 births British sportspeople of Pakistani descent Welterweight boxers