SIGNS POINT TO A BOXING BOOM IN DUBAI

​By Rene Bonsubre,Jr

DUBAI,UAE- The Emirates Golf Club in Dubai hosted a well-attended international fight card Friday with eleven bouts and two major ranking belts at stake. Interest in the sport of boxing is growing in this part of the world. Dubai is inhabited by a majority of expats, many of which come from countries where boxing has enjoyed a huge popularity.

The show billed as “The Fight-DXB Uncovered” was made possible by the partnership of Dubai’s Round 10 Boxing Club and MTK Global as well as ESPN AND Top Rank.

The local attraction was Majid Al-Naqbi, who beat Vladmir Lytkin, a Russian based in Thailand, by TKO in round four. This was Al-Naqbi’s professional debut. He stated in his post-fight ring interview that he is only the second in Dubai’s history to fight as a pro. He overpowered his Russian opponent, decked him in the final round and the referee had to step in to avoid further damage. 

The lightweight Al-Naqbi was the main reason why Dubai royalty were in attendance. But he attracted boxing royalty as well, with former world champ “Prince” Naseem Hamed seated at ringside for the historic outdoor event.

The headline bout saw Dubai-based Nigerian Aliu Bamidele “Lucky Boy” Lasisi get off the canvas to score a grueling twelve round unanimous decision over Ricardo Blandon of Nicaragua.

Blandon knocked down Lasisi at the end of round three and Lasisi was also deducted a point for a head butt in round four. But Lasisi stormed back and dropped a fading Blandon in round ten to pull out a 114-111 win on all three cards and the vacant WBC International belt.

Lassisi is now 13-0,8KO’s. Blandon goes down to 10-2,6KO’s.

In the battle for the vacant WBO European featherweight crown, Irishman David Oliver Joyce (10-0, 8 KOs) kept his unbeaten record when he stopped Scotsman Stephen Tiffney (10-2, 4 KOs) in the seventh round.

For the rest of the action packed undercards – Dubai based Filipino expat Larry Abarra beat Ghanaian Raymond Commey by unanimous decision, Afghan Hassibulah Ahmadi got a split decision against Thai Manut Comput.

Kazakh Sultan Zaurbek was impressive and he caught China’s  Chenghong Tao with a sneaky right to the jaw and knocked him out in the fifth, Uzbekistan featherweight Shakhobidin Zoirov, who captured a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, won his pro debut with a first round stoppage of Anthony Holt of Indonesia, Australian Mateo Tapia stopped Gaganpreet Sharma of India in the eighth round, Abilkahiyr Shegaliyev of Kazakhstan beat Trimuraz Abuladze of Georgia by TKO in the opening round, Saudi Arabian Zuhayr Al Qahtani won by unanimous decision over Indian Sk Saheb, and in a female boxing match, Armenian Anahit Aroyan beat Thai Nongnum Sor Praithong by unanimous verdict.

Dubai has hosted big events in the past. In 2013, at their World Trade Center, the first world male champion from China, Xiong Chaozhong, retain his WBC straweight title against Filipino Denver Cuello by majority decision.

But regular sanctioned pro cards have been few and far in between. In 2014 and 2015, ALA Promotions of the Philippines brought in their star boxers in a show packed by the Filipino workers living in Dubai. There were always rumors of Manny Pacquiao fighting in Dubai but it never happened.

Boxrec records show that there was only one Dubai fight card in 2018, none in 2017, with two small shows in 2016.

But now they have a local hero to root for in the person of Majid Al-Naqbi. And with the partnership of Dubai’s Round 10 Boxing Club and MTK Global, this could very ignite a boxing boom.