Florian Marku is an Albanian

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 ...

and former

kickboxer Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid martial art and boxing type based on punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouth guards, shorts, and ...

and

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

Professional career

Marku made his professional debut on 1 December 2018, scoring a first-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) victory against Nikola Janicievic at the Beste Event Halle in

Ulm Ulm () is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city. Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the up ...

, Germany. In November 2020, after compiling a record of 7–0 (5 KOs), he signed a promotional contract with

Eddie Hearn Edward John Hearn (born 8 June 1979) is a British sports promoter and the chairman of Matchroom Sport and Professional Darts Corporation. Hearn has promoted many world champion boxers through Matchroom, including Anthony Joshua, Canelo Álvar ...

Matchroom Sport Matchroom Sport is a UK-based sporting event promotions company founded by Barry Hearn and run by him and his son Eddie Hearn. It first came to attention in the sports of snooker and boxing and is also involved in pool (cue sports), pool, bowl ...

. The following month, Marku faced Jamie Stewart at The SSE Arena in London. The bout served as part of the undercard for

Anthony Joshua vs. Kubrat Pulev Anthony Joshua vs Kubrat Pulev, was a heavyweight professional boxing match contested between defending unified WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO world champion Anthony Joshua and IBF mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev. The event took place on 12 ...

and was televised live on

Sky Sports Box Office Sky Box Office is Sky's pay-per-view (PPV) system operated in the United Kingdom and Ireland. There were three branded divisions of Sky Box Office – Sky Cinema Box Office, Sky Sports Box Office and Sky 3D Box Office. Until 1 February 2011, th ...

. In a fight which saw Marku drop his opponent to the canvas with a punch to the body in the second round, the result was controversially announced as a draw, with referee Marcus McDonnell scoring the bout 76–76. Marku returned to The SSE Arena for his next fight, facing Rylan Charlton on 20 February 2021. Marku boxed well and controlled a lot of the fight but suffered a knockdown in the sixth round from a right hand by Charlton, Marku went on to secure an eighth-round TKO after Charlton's corner threw in the towel after their charge was on the receiving end of a sustained attack by Marku. Marku had been scheduled to challenge IBF International welterweight champion

Maxim Prodan Maxim Volodymyrovych Prodan (; born 13 February 1993) is a Ukrainian professional boxer who held the IBF International welterweight title from 2019 to September 2021. Early life Prodan was born in Rynhach, Novoselytsia Raion, Chernivtsi r ...

on 7 August 2021 as part of Matchroom's Fight Camp, but the fight was postponed when Marku suffered an injury. On 25 August, it was announced that the bout would now take place on 25 September at

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the home of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur in North London, replacing the club's previous ground, White Hart Lane. With a seating capacity of 62,850, it is the List of football stadium ...

on the undercard of

Anthony Joshua vs. Oleksandr Usyk Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk, billed as ''The Perfect Storm'', was a professional boxing match that was contested between WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua, and former undisputed cruiserweight champion a ...

which he won via split decision after 10 rounds against

. On March 31, 2024 in London, Marku was scheduled to face

Chris Kongo Chris Kongo (born 23 December 1992) is a 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 b ...

. On 20 Dec 2024 It was reported that Florian Marku was ‘facing up to five years in jail after arrest for wounding and illegal possession of a weapon’ The boxer had previously said where the charges came from.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marku, Florian Living people Albanian male boxers Albanian male mixed martial artists Sportspeople from Lushnjë Welterweight boxers 1992 births 21st-century Albanian sportsmen