Adil Anwar (; born 6 July 1987) is a former British

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 ...

who competed from 2007 to 2017. He won the English

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 th ...

title in 2011 and challenged for the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

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, ...

title in 2013.

Early life and amateur career

Anwar was born to a

British Pakistani British Pakistanis (; also known as Pakistani British people or Pakistani Britons) are Britons or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan. This includes people born in the UK who are of Pakistani descent, Pakis ...

family in 6 July 1987 and was raised in Burley,

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. His grandfather was a gymnast and boxed in the Army, and several of his uncles were also involved in

combat sports A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent, submitting the opponent with a hold, disabling the opponent (''knocko ...

. Anwar started boxing after his father took him to the gym at the age of 13 to learn to defend himself. He was initially reluctant but eased into the sport as he grew older, having his first fight when he was 14 He got into the 'National Boys Clubs' (NACYP) final where he lost to Gary Barker, he then won The Junior

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Championships and National Boys Clubs at a later date as well as winning whilst boxing for England at International events. Whilst still an Amateur he was involved in a car accident which left him with a broken collar bone after which he was told it would be unlikely he'd box again, although 18 months after the incident he was back training. Following the incident the England set-up grew distant from Anwar, so he decided to turn professional rather than stay in

Amateur Boxing Amateur boxing is the variant of boxing practiced in clubs and associations around the world, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as at the varsity sports, collegiate level. Amateur boxing bouts comprise three ...

. In total, he had 65 Amateur fight of which 9 were losses.

Professional career

Welterweight

Early career

Anwar made his professional debut in 2007 but rose to prominence in 2012 after winning the

Prizefighter 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 ...

tournament following a victory over undefeated 22-year-old prospect Tyrone Nurse. Anwar fought at the

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 th ...

division in 2011. He went on to win the International Masters

title before winning the English

title, a fight he took on at a weeks notice against an undefeated James Flinn.Adil Anwar
boxrec.com

Light-Welterweight

Following his success with

in 2012, Anwar began to call out then British light-welterweight champion Ashley Theophane for a title fight he had been pursuing since the previous year. Shortly after, Theophane lost the title to challenger Darren Hamilton. Whilst Anwar waited to compete for the British title he won two official British championship eliminators before going on to win the vacant British Masters Gold

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, ...

title. He will finally fight for the British

title against Darren Hamilton in July 2013. Anwar lost via unanimous decision to Hamilton at the Echo Arena, judges scored the bout (118-112, 117-112 & 116-113) all in favour of Hamilton.

Light middleweight

Anwar fell further down the ranks and was looking at getting back into the mix of British super welterweights. Anwar's next scheduled fight was in September 2013 against 35 year old Simone Lucas (4-18-3, 1 KO). Anwar lost a 4-round decision after the referee scored the bout (39-37). Going back down to welterweight, Anwar went back to winning ways on 28 March 2014 against Lazslo Fazekas (18-12-1, 13 KOs), referee scored it 40-37 in favour of Anwar. Anwar next fought for the vacant International Masters Silver welterweight title on 9 May 2014 in Sheffield against Chad Gaynor (14-1, 7 KOs). Anwar lost via 2nd-round TKO following a combination of head shots.

Return to Welterweight

After nearly a year out without having fought, Anwar made another attempt for a comeback in March 2015 against Ryan Hardy (7-4, 0 KOs). After 8 rounds it went to the referees' scorecard who had it at (79-72) in favour of Adil Anwar. This took Anwar's record to 21 wins with 4 losses. Anwar fought again two months later in a losing attempt against Dale Evans (9-2-2, 3 KOs). After 8 rounds the referee scored the fight 77-73. Anwar was down in the 6th and twice in the 8th round. Anwar took nearly another year out before returning to the ring on 18 March 2016 at Elland Road against Sylwester Walczak (4-20, 0 KOs). The bout stopped after round 1, Walczak quit on his stool claiming he had injured his left shoulder. Anwar fought on 7 May at the

Manchester Arena Manchester Arena (currently known as AO Arena for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the Manchester city centre, city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights space. Pr ...

on the undercard of Crolla vs. Barroso in a 10-round bout for the vacant WBC International Silver welterweight title against Shayne Singleton (22-1, 7 KOs). Anwar was knocked down in round one, although he managed to win the next few rounds more aggressively, he was down again in the 8th round and the referee stopped the fight. Anwar revealed that he would travel to Spain to challenge Jose Del Rio on 18 March 2017. He lost the fairly close bout via a 10 round unanimous decision with the judges scorecards reading 98-92, 98-95, 96-94 all in favour of Del Rio.

Professional Boxing Record

Nathan Graham , TKO , 10 (10), , 18 Mar 2011 , align=left, , , - , 11 , Win , 10–1 , style="text-align:left;", Michael Frontin , TKO , 6 (10) , 26 Feb 2011 , align=left, , , - , 10 , Win , 9–1 , style="text-align:left;", Arek Malek , PTS , 6 , 2 Oct 2010 , align=left, , , - , 9 , Win , 8–1 , style="text-align:left;", Billy Smith , PTS , 6 , 27 Mar 2010 , align=left, , , - , 8 , Win , 7–1 , style="text-align:left;", Darren Askew , PTS , 6 , 26 Nov 2009 , align=left, , , - , 7 , Win , 6–1 , style="text-align:left;", Ben Lawler , TKO , 2 (?) , 26 Sep 2009 , align=left, , , - , 6 , Win , 5–1 , style="text-align:left;", Johnny Greaves , TKO , 4 (6), , 14 May 2009 , align=left, , , - , 5 , Win , 4–1 , style="text-align:left;", Ernie Smith , PTS , 6 , 27 Nov 2008 , align=left, , , - , 4 , Win , 3–1 , style="text-align:left;", Scott Sandmann , TKO , 1 (6) , 5 Jun 2008 , align=left, , , - , 3 , Win , 2–1 , style="text-align:left;", Steve Cooper , PTS , 6 , 21 Feb 2008 , align=left, , , - , 2 , Loss , 1–1 , style="text-align:left;", Graeme Higginson , PTS , 6 , 15 Nov 2007 , align=left, , , - , 1 , Win , 1–0 , style="text-align:left;", Craig Tomes , PTS , 6 , 14 Jun 2007 , align=left, ,

Personal life

Anwar belongs to the

community. He is a fan of the boxer

Naseem Hamed Naseem Hamed (Arabic: نسيم حميد; born 12 February 1974), nicknamed Prince Naseem and Naz, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2002.Davies, Gareth A (8 June 2015)"Prince Naseem Hamed: 'I always thought they w ...

, citing him as an inspiration. Apart from boxing, Anwar is also a rugby fan and a support the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...

rugby league club. He is currently living in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. He lives with his wife, Kiran Zubair, two daughters and twin boys.

Championships held

* English

champion. * International Masters

champion. * British Masters Gold

champion.

References

External links

*
Adil Anwar Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anwar, Adil 1987 births Living people English male boxers English people of Pakistani descent Sportspeople of Pakistani descent Martial artists from Leeds People from Burley, Leeds Welterweight boxers 21st-century English sportsmen