Kid Galahad (boxer)
Abdul-Bari Awad (born 3 March 1990), best known by his nickname of "Kid Galahad", is a British professional boxer who held the European, British, and Commonwealth super-bantamweight titles between 2013 and 2015. His ring name was chosen by trainer Brendan Ingle after a character played by Elvis Presley in the 1962 film of the same name.[1] From 2014 to 2016, Galahad served a ban from boxing due to doping.[2][3]
Kid Galahad | |
---|---|
Galahad in 2014 | |
Statistics | |
Real name | Abdul-Bari Awad |
Weight(s) | |
Height | 5 ft 6 1⁄2 in (169 cm) |
Reach | 66 1⁄2 in (169 cm) |
Nationality | British/Yemeni |
Born | Doha, Qatar | 3 March 1990
Stance | Orthodox |
Boxing record | |
Total fights | 28 |
Wins | 27 |
Wins by KO | 16 |
Losses | 1 |
Early life
Galahad was born in the Qatar capital of Doha but is originally from Yemen. His father was in the Qatar Armed Forces and was released as part of an agreement with the Americans after the conclusion of the Gulf War. At the age of 4, Galahad came to England with his parents (both from Yemen) and eventually ended up in Sheffield. At the age of thirteen he took up boxing with trainer Brendan Ingle.[4][5]
Professional career
Galahad decided to take up boxing to keep him off the streets so he didn't follow his siblings and end up in jail and being involved in gang violence. After he started going to his local gym to get bigger he noticed a boxing ring, after shadow boxing for a few minutes he decided he wanted to be a boxer. After a chance meeting with his hero Prince Naseem Hamed he was told by Naseem that if he wanted to be great in boxing and wanted to be a champion he should train at the Brendan Ingle gym, so after driving around for an hour Galahad and his mother found the gym.
Galahad made his professional debut on 5 September 2009 at the Colosseum in Watford England in which he defeated Delroy Spencer on Points.
Galahad's Second Professional fight took place on 3 October 2009 at the Leisure Centre in Altrincham England where he defeated Pavels Senkovs on Points after 4 rounds.
He then scored his first stoppage Victory on 21 May 2010 defeating Dougie Curran by TKO in the second round.
Galahad raked up a record of 10–0 before defeating Jason Booth by Unanimous Decision on 18 February 2012 to earn his first title the WBC International Super-Bantamweight Championship
Galahad defended his championship once against Josh Wale by TKO afterwards he vacated the title.
Galahad scored two more wins, defeating Ivan Ruiz Morote and Isaac Nettey both by TKO to earn a shot at the BBBofC British title which he won by defeating James Dickens by TKO, he would later vacate the title.
On 22 March 2014, Galahad won the European Super-Bantamweight championship with a unanimous twelve round decision over Sergio Prado.[6]
On 10 May 2014, Galahad won the vacant Commonwealth Super Bantamweight Championship by beating Fred Mundraby by TKO (Corner retirement) after round 4.
Galahad faced Adeilson Dos Santos on 20 September 2014 at the Ponds Forge Arena for the vacant IBF World Youth Super-Bantamweight Championship. Gallahad controlled the fight, out boxing Dos Santos with fast jabs, hooks and combinations sending Dos Santos to the canvas in the first round and tenth round. Gallahad won the fight by unanimous decision.
In October 2014 Galahad vacated the European title to pursue a World title.
In May 2015, Galahad was banned for 2 years following a failed drugs test. He tested positive for banned substance stanozolol, an anabolic steroid.[7] He maintains his innocence saying his brother put the steroids in his protein shake after Galahad refused to give him money, and appealed against a ban, but it was rejected by UKAD and the ban upheld, backdated to run from 20 September 2014.[2][8]
Galahad made his return to boxing on 30 April 2016 with a 4th round TKO win over Simas Volosinas at the DW Stadium in Wigan, England. This was Galahad’s first non championship fight since 2013.
Galahad won his first title since his return on 15 July 2017 winning the vacant IBF Inter-Continental featherweight title.
On Saturday 15 June, 2019 Galahad narrowly lost a split decision to Josh Warrington fighting for the IBF Featherweight Title in what many commentators saw as a difficult contest to score. Judge Howard Foster's card was 115-113 in favour of Galahad, Steve Gray was 116-112 for Warrington and Michael Alexander was 116-113 for Warrington. Writing in The Observer, Tom Seymour noted that "the fight was perilously close ... Kid Galahad has a right to feel he was robbed of the chance to be the IBF's undisputed champion".
Professional boxing record
28 fights | 27 wins | 1 loss |
By knockout | 16 | 0 |
By decision | 11 | 1 |
No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
28 | Win | 27–1 | RTD | 8 (12), 3:00 | 8 Feb 2020 | |||
27 | Loss | 26–1 | SD | 12 | 15 Jun 2019 | For IBF featherweight title | ||
26 | Win | 26–0 | PTS | 8 | 8 Dec 2018 | |||
25 | Win | 25–0 | UD | 12 | 20 Oct 2018 | |||
24 | Win | 24–0 | KO | 3 (12), 2:20 | 3 Mar 2018 | |||
23 | Win | 23–0 | TKO | 10 (12), 2:14 | 15 Jul 2017 | Won vacant IBF Inter-Continental featherweight title | ||
22 | Win | 22–0 | RTD | 3 (8), 3:00 | 4 Feb 2017 | |||
21 | Win | 21–0 | TKO | 3 (8), 2:21 | 26 Nov 2016 | |||
20 | Win | 20–0 | TKO | 4 (8), 0:38 | 10 Sep 2016 | |||
19 | Win | 19–0 | TKO | 4 (6), 2:06 | 30 Apr 2016 | |||
18 | Win | 18–0 | UD | 12 | 20 Sep 2014 | Won vacant IBF Youth super-bantamweight title | ||
17 | Win | 17–0 | RTD | 4 (12), 3:00 | 10 May 2014 | Won vacant Commonwealth super-bantamweight title | ||
16 | Win | 16–0 | UD | 12 | 22 Mar 2014 | Won vacant European super-bantamweight title | ||
15 | Win | 15–0 | TKO | 10 (12), 1:34 | 14 Sep 2013 | Won vacant British super-bantamweight title | ||
14 | Win | 14–0 | TKO | 5 (8), 2:35 | 8 Jun 2013 | |||
13 | Win | 13–0 | TKO | 4 (8), 2:50 | 8 Dec 2012 | |||
12 | Win | 12–0 | TKO | 9 (12), 3:00 | 12 May 2012 | Retained WBC International super-bantamweight title | ||
11 | Win | 11–0 | UD | 12 | 18 Feb 2012 | Won vacant WBC International super-bantamweight title | ||
10 | Win | 10–0 | TKO | 4 (6), 2:58 | 8 Oct 2011 | |||
9 | Win | 9–0 | TKO | 1 (8), 1:31 | 17 Sep 2011 | |||
8 | Win | 8–0 | PTS | 6 | 23 Jul 2011 | |||
7 | Win | 7–0 | PTS | 4 | 30 Apr 2011 | |||
6 | Win | 6–0 | PTS | 4 | 16 Apr 2011 | |||
5 | Win | 5–0 | KO | 1 (4), 2:53 | 26 Nov 2010 | |||
4 | Win | 4–0 | PTS | 6 | 25 Sep 2010 | |||
3 | Win | 3–0 | TKO | 2 (4), 2:53 | 21 May 2010 | |||
2 | Win | 2–0 | PTS | 4 | 3 Oct 2009 | |||
1 | Win | 1–0 | PTS | 4 | 5 Sep 2009 |
References
- "Kid Galahad's two-year suspension upheld as appeal fails", Sky Sports, 24 July 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2015
- Taylor, Declan (9 March 2016). "Kid Galahad Has Been Cleared To Fight Again By UKAD". BoxingScene. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
- Bennett, Seth (23 October 2009). "BBC SPORT | Boxing | Sheffield boxing - five to watch". BBC News. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
- Wainwright, Anson (11 September 2013). "Q&A: Kid Galahad | RingTV". Ringtv.craveonline.com. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
- "Kid Galahad wins European super-bantamweight title". BBC Sport. 23 March 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
- UK Anti-doping: British Boxer, Kid Galahad, Banned for Two Years Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, ukad.org, 24 July 2015
- "Undefeated British boxer Kid Galahad blames BROTHER after being given two-year drug ban - Mirror Online". Mirror.co.uk. 12 May 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
External links
Sporting positions | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Regional boxing titles | ||||
Vacant Title last held by Simpiwe Vetyeka |
WBC International super-bantamweight champion 18 February 2012 – December 2012 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Alexis Boureima Kabore | ||
Vacant Title last held by Scott Quigg |
British super-bantamweight champion 14 September 2013 – February 2014 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Gavin McDonnell | ||
Vacant Title last held by Carl Frampton |
European super-bantamweight champion 22 March 2014 – May 2014 Vacated | |||
Commonwealth super-bantamweight champion 10 May 2014 – September 2015 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Bobby Jenkinson | |||
Vacant Title last held by Rey Vargas |
IBF Youth super-bantamweight champion 20 September 2014 – September 2016 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Sinethemba Bam | ||
Vacant Title last held by Viorel Simion |
IBF Inter-Continental featherweight champion 15 July 2017 – January 2019 Vacated |
Vacant Title next held by Shakur Stevenson |