Susianna Kentikian

Susianna Levonovna Kentikian (; born Syuzanna Kentikyan on 11 September 1987) is an Armenian-German former professional boxer who competed from 2005 to 2016. She was born in Yerevan, Armenian SSR, but left the country with her family at the age of five because of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. Kentikian has lived in Hamburg since 1996 and began boxing at the age of 12.

Kentikian is a two-time flyweight world champion, having held the unified World Boxing Association (WBA) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) female titles between 2007 and 2012, and the WBA female title again from 2013 to 2017. Additionally, she held the Women's International Boxing Federation (WIBF) title twice between 2007 and 2017. During the 2009 WBA convention in Colombia she was named the first ever female Super champion. It was announced that this belt would be called "Susi Kentikian belt" for all other future Super champions.

Until 2012, Kentikian remained undefeated as a professional, winning 16 of her first 30 fights by knockout or stoppage. The German television station ZDF has broadcast her fights since July 2009. She had previously headlined fight cards for the television station ProSieben from 2007 to 2009. Kentikian has gained minor celebrity status in Germany and she hopes to reach a popularity similar to that of the retired German female boxing star Regina Halmich.

Kentikian was inducted into the International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame in 2022.

Early life

Susianna Kentikian was born in Yerevan, Armenian SSR.Jensen, Björn
"Killer Queen" krönt sich mit WM-Titel
''Hamburger Abendblatt''. 19 February 2007. Accessed 26 May 2008. At the age of five, she left Armenia with her parents and her nine-year-old brother, because her father was called up to serve in the military during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.Bösecke, Ina
"Ich bin ein Killer, ich kämpfe wie ein Mann"
''Spiegel Online''. 16 February 2007. Accessed 1 May 2007. In 1992, the family first moved to Berlin, Germany and stayed at asylum seekers' homes. However, due to the violence at these facilities and their poor knowledge of the German language, they left Berlin and moved to Moldova and later to Russia, where Kentikian went to school for a short period of time.Treptow, Julia
Ein Fliegengewicht boxt sich nach oben
''Spiegel Online''. 18 January 2006. Accessed 1 May 2007. The family returned to Germany in 1996 and relocated in Hamburg, again living in government facilities for asylum seekers.Krohn, Anne-Dore
Durchgeboxt
''Die Zeit''. 15 February 2007. Accessed 1 May 2007. Kentikian's residence status remained uncertain for almost a decade. Several times, she and her family were taken to the airport for deportation, but the intervention of local friends such as her amateur trainer, Frank Rieth, who called lawyers, the media and local politicians, prevented their final expulsion. Her family received a permanent residence permit in 2005 when she signed a three-year professional boxing contract that established a stable income.Hardt, Andreas

''Die Welt''. 31 March 2005. Accessed 1 May 2007.

At the age of 16, Kentikian began working as a cleaner in a local fitness center to help her family financially. She graduated from high school (''Realschule'') in the summer of 2006"Ich wollte schon als Siebenjährige Großes schaffen"
''Hamburger Abendblatt''. 7 April 2007. Accessed 1 May 2007. and she eventually became a German citizen in June 2008. She applied for dispensation to be allowed to retain her Armenian citizenship. Kentikian lived with her family in an apartment near her Hamburg boxing gym.

Amateur career

Kentikian discovered her enthusiasm for boxing when she was twelve years old after accompanying her brother to his boxing training. She started with regular training herself and stated that boxing had allowed her to forget the difficulties of her life for a short time: "I could let everything out, my whole energy. If you have so many problems like our family, you need something like that."

Kentikian won the Hamburg Championships for juniors from 2001 to 2004.Susianna Kentikian , Portrait
Kentikian.de. Accessed 17 April 2008. She also won the Northern German Championships for juniors in 2003 and 2004, and in October 2004, she had her biggest amateur success by winning the International German Women's Amateur Championships in the featherweight division for juniors. Kentikian found it increasingly difficult to find opponents in the amateur ranks, as few boxers wanted to face her, and her status as an asylum seeker did not allow her to box outside Hamburg. Kentikian's final amateur record stood at 24 wins and one loss. She later blamed overeagerness for her single loss, having fought despite health problems at the time. Her aggressive style and fast combinations, and her ambition to always attack until she knocked out the opponent earned her the nickname "Killer Queen"; she has often used the identically named song by the English rock band Queen as her entrance music.

Professional career

2005–2007

Kentikian was discovered as a professional boxer at an exhibition fight during qualifications for the World Amateur Boxing Championships