Izu Ugonoh

Izuagbe Ugonoh
Statistics
Real name Izuagbe Ugonoh
Nickname(s) Izu
Weight(s) Cruiserweight
Heavyweight
Height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Reach 84 in (213 cm)
Nationality Polish
Born (1986-11-02) 2 November 1986
Szczecin, Poland
Stance Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights 19
Wins 18
Wins by KO 15
Losses 1

Izuagbe Ugonoh (born November 2, 1986) is a Polish professional boxer and former kickboxer, who competes in the heavyweight division. He is a graduate of the Jędrzej Śniadecki University School of Physical Education and Sport in Gdańsk.

Early life

Izuagbe was born to Nigerian parents in the Polish city of Szczecin. He graduated from the Jędrzej Śniadecki University School of Physical Educations and Sport in Gdańsk.

Kickboxing career

He trained kick boxing at Gdańsk club GKSK Corpus. Due to his similarity in appearance and fighting style he is sometimes called the Polish Remy Bonjasky. He has also been inspired by Gökhan Saki.

In 2009, in the Austrian city of Villach, he won the Kickboxing World Championships gold medal in K-1 Rules to 91 kg, defeating Vladimir Mineev.[1] In 2010, he became European champion in the same formula in Baku. He met the local Zamig Athakishiyev in the final.[2][3]

Professional boxing career

Early career

On October 16, 2010, he made his professional debut as a boxer in Legionowo, beating Igoris Papunia from Lithuania by first round knockout.[4] He fought his second professional fight on November 20, 2010, in a show in Nysa, during which he defeated Pavel Habra by technical KO in the first round. Ugonoh’s first fight of 2011 was against Rad Rashid on the 2nd April. Ugonoh won the bout by unanimous decision over four rounds. Ugonoh went on to gain five stoppage wins by the end of 2012. He fought once in 2013, defeating Lukasz Rusiewicz by unanimous decision in a six round bout. Ugonoh also fought once in 2014 knocking out Junior Maletino Lakopo in two rounds.

Ugonoh next fought on the 5th March 2015, against Thomas Peato. Ugonoh won the bout by second round knockout. He went on to gain wins over Julius Long and Will Quarrie before facing Ibrahim Labaran for the interim WBA Oceania and WBO Africa heavyweight titles. Ugonoh won the fight by first round knockout. He also got a first round knockout win against Vicente Sandez in December 2015. Ugonoh’s first fight of 2016 was against Ricardo Humberto Ramirez, which he won by knockout in the fourth round. Ugonoh next fought on the 1st October, knocking out Gregory Tony in two rounds to pick up the vacant IBF Mediterranean heavyweight title.

Ugonoh vs Breazeale

On the 25th February 2017, Ugonoh faced former world title challenger Dominic Breazeale on the under card of Deontay Wilder vs Gerald Washington, in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. In a back and forth fight which saw both men hit the canvas, Breazeale came out on top after he dropped Ugonoh through the ropes in the fifth round. The fights' third round won the round of the year from The Ring Magazine.

Career from 2018

After losing to Breazeale in 2017, Ugonoh next returned to the ring on the 25th May 2018. Ugonoh face Fred Kassi in a ten round bout, winning the fight by stoppage after Kassi was retired on his stool at the end of the second round.

Personal life

Ugonoh also played a wrestling cameo in the Polish movie Afonia and the bees (2009) directed by Jan Jakub Kolski.

He calls himself a "black Pole" and says that he proudly represents Poland on the international arena. He often jokes that when he looks into a mirror, he "doesn't know what happened", referring to his skin color as atypical for ethnic Poles, a white ethnic group.[5]

His sister, Osi Ugonoh, works as a professional model, and is known for winning Poland's 4th edition of Top Model reality television series in 2014.[6]

Professional boxing record

Professional record summary
19 fights 18 wins 1 loss
By knockout 15 1
By decision 3 0
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
19 Win 18–1 Cameroon Fred Kassi RTD 2 (10), 3:00 25 May 2018 Poland Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw, Poland
18 Loss 17–1 United States Dominic Breazeale TKO 5 (10) , 0:50 25 Feb 2017 United States Legacy Arena, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
17 Win 17–0 France Grégory Tony TKO 2 (10) , 2:26 01 Oct 2016 New Zealand Vodafone Events Centre, Auckland, New Zealand Won vacant IBF Mediterranean heavyweight title
16 Win 16–0 Argentina Ricardo Humberto Ramírez KO 4 (10), 1:47 21 Jul 2016 New Zealand Horncastle Arena, Christchurch, New Zealand Retained WBO Africa heavyweight title
15 Win 15–0 Mexico Vicente Sandez KO 1 (10), 1:11 05 Dec 2015 New Zealand Claudelands Arena, Hamilton, New Zealand Retained interim WBO Africa heavyweight title
14 Win 14–0 Ghana Ibrahim Labaran TKO 1 (10), 2:38 15 Oct 2015 New Zealand Trusts Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand Won interim WBA Oceania & WBO Africa heavyweight titles
13 Win 13–0 New Zealand Will Quarrie KO 2 (10), 2:14 01 Aug 2015 New Zealand Stadium Southland, Invercargill, New Zealand
12 Win 12–0 New Zealand Julius Long UD 8 13 Jun 2015 New Zealand Arena Manawatu, Palmerston North, New Zealand
11 Win 11–0 New Zealand Thomas Peato TKO 2 (6), 1:15 05 Mar 2015 New Zealand Vodafone Events Centre, Auckland, New Zealand
10 Win 10–0 New Zealand Junior Maletino Iakopo TKO 2 (6), 1:04 16 Oct 2014 New Zealand Trusts Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand
9 Win 9–0 Poland Lukasz Rusiewicz UD 6 23 Feb 2013 Poland Ergo Arena, Gdańsk, Poland
8 Win 8–0 France Mathieu Monnier TKO 5 (6) 08 Dec 2012 Poland Spodek, Katowice, Poland
7 Win 7–0 Germany Björn Blaschke TKO 6 (6), 1:05 17 Mar 2012 Poland MOSiR Ice Rink, Krynica-Zdrój, Poland
6 Win 6–0 Latvia Florians Strupits TKO 1 (6), 1:50 03 Dec 2011 Poland Hilton Warsaw Hotel, Warsaw, Poland
5 Win 5–0 Turkey Fatih Ceyhan RTD 3 (4), 3:00 12 Nov 2011 Poland Gdynia Sports Arena, Gdynia, Poland
4 Win 4–0 Austria Patrick Berger TKO 2 (4), 2:08 15 Oct 2011 Poland Spodek, Katowice, Poland
3 Win 3–0 Germany Rashid Raad UD 4 02 Apr 2011 Poland Łuczniczka, Bydgoszcz, Poland
2 Win 2–0 Czech Republic Pavel Habr TKO 1 (4), 2:47 20 Nov 2010 Poland AZS PWSZ Nysa, Nysa, Poland
1 Win 1–0 Lithuania Igor Papunia KO 1 (4), 1:29 16 Oct 2010 Poland Arena Legionowo, Legionowo, Poland Professional debut

References

  1. ↑ "World Light Contact, Low Kick, K -1 Villach, Austria 19-26.10.2009 Rules". Polish Association of Kickboxing. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Bałanda and European champions Ugonoh". trojmiasto.pl. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
  3. ↑ "Description of the championship fights Izu website GKSK Corpus". gkskcorpus.pl. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Impressive victory 'Izu' in debut". ringpolska.pl. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
  5. ↑ "Ugonoh: Z dumą reprezentuję Polskę". sport.dziennik.pl. 24 March 2010.
  6. ↑ "Osi Ugonoh wygrała 4. edycję "Top Model"!". Retrieved 2018-06-03.
Sporting positions
Regional boxing titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Joseph Parker		 WBA Oceania heavyweight champion
interim title
October 15, 2015 – April 2016
Vacated		 Vacant
Title next held by
Junlong Zhang
Vacant
Title last held by
Joseph Parker		 WBO Africa heavyweight champion
October 15, 2015 – July 2016
Vacated		 Vacant
Title next held by
Ebenezer Tetteh
Vacant
Title last held by
Cyril Leonet		 IBF Mediterranean heavyweight champion
October 1, 2016 – present		 Incumbent
Awards
Previous:
Skender Halili vs.
Jason Thompson
Round 2		 The Ring Round of the Year
vs. Dominic Breazeale
Round 3
2017		 Incumbent
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