Merdud Takalobighashi (born 23 September 1975 in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

) (), more commonly known as Merdud Takaloo or Takaloo, is an Iranian born

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 ...

based boxer. He is the older brother to the rapper Mic Righteous.

Early life

Takaloo was born in 1975 in Tehran, Iran. His family later fled the country in the late 1970s after the overthrow of the

Shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

. His family arrived in the south of

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 ...

and he is now based in

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

Career

Takaloo boxed from an early age and won a number of amateur titles. In 1997, he became a professional boxer, losing two of his first seven bouts. At this time he changed trainers and joined Jimmy O'Donnell's gym in London. Takaloo is a showboat who had good head and body movement, but usually ended up looking bruised, battered but unbowed. His gutsy style made him a popular fighter in England. A one time world title contender and later WBU welterweight champion, Takaloo had problems obtaining a passport to fight outside the UK, but became a British citizen. As an amateur, he fought 72 times, winning 60 bouts, before turning professional in 1997. He won the fringe WBU light-middleweight world championship belt in 2001 by beating the then undefeated Anthony Farnell in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. Following that, Takaloo secured a shot with WBO champion Daniel Santos at Cardiff Castle,

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

when he fought for the WBO and WBU light middleweight title. Takaloo lost this fight on points over twelve rounds. Takaloo then moved down to

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 ...

following defeats to Eugenio Monteiro and a chilling knockout loss to unpredictable puncher Wayne Alexander. This move seemed to have been a success as he won the vacant title against Turgay Uzun in February 2006 at the ExCeL Centre in

Custom House A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting ...

, and subsequently retained the title against Irish fighter Eamonn Magee on a points verdict. Takaloo lost the WBU welterweight championship to former British Champion Michael Jennings by a unanimous points decision on 7 April 2007 and a further TKO loss to Anthony Small on 12 January 2008.

Honours

* 2001 WBU

Light-middleweight Light middleweight, also known as junior middleweight or super welterweight,PeBoxRec/ref> is a weight class in boxing but also may include other combat sports. Boxing The light middleweight division (also known as junior middleweight in the Intern ...

Champion * 2006 WBU

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 ...

Champion

References

External links

*
Guardian Article : Triumph and despair
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Takaloo, Merdad 1975 births Living people British male boxers Iranian emigrants to the United Kingdom Light-middleweight boxers Sportspeople from Margate Martial artists from Tehran Welterweight boxers