Izu Ugonoh

Izuagbe Ugonoh (born 2 November 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.

Izuagbe Ugonoh
Statistics
Real nameIzuagbe Ugonoh
Nickname(s)Izu
Weight(s)Cruiserweight
Heavyweight
Height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Reach84 in (213 cm)
NationalityPolish
Born (1986-11-02) 2 November 1986
Szczecin, Poland
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights20
Wins18
Wins by KO15
Losses2

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 16 October 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 20 November 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 2 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 5 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 1 October, knocking out Gregory Tony in two rounds to pick up the vacant IBF Mediterranean heavyweight title.

Ugonoh vs Breazeale

On the 25 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 25 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.

Mixed martial arts career

On July 11, 2020, news surfaced that Ugonoh transitioned from boxing to mixed martial arts and had signed a contract with Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki. He is expected to make his mixed martial arts debut against Quentin Domingos at KSW 54 on August 29, 2020.[5]

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.[6]

His sister, Osuenhe "Osi" Ugonoh, works as a professional model, and is known for winning Poland's 4th edition of Top Model reality television series in 2014.[7]

Professional boxing record
Professional record summary
20 fights 18 wins 2 losses
By knockout 15 2
By decision 3 0
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
20 Loss 18–2 Łukasz Różański KO 4 (10), 2:27 6 Jul 2019 Stadion Miejski, Rzeszów, Poland
19 Win 18–1 Fred Kassi RTD 2 (10), 3:00 25 May 2018 Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw, Poland
18 Loss 17–1 Dominic Breazeale TKO 5 (10) , 0:50 25 Feb 2017 Legacy Arena, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
17 Win 17–0 Grégory Tony TKO 2 (10) , 2:26 01 Oct 2016 Vodafone Events Centre, Auckland, New Zealand Won vacant IBF Mediterranean heavyweight title
16 Win 16–0 Ricardo Humberto Ramírez KO 4 (10), 1:47 21 Jul 2016 Horncastle Arena, Christchurch, New Zealand Retained WBO Africa heavyweight title
15 Win 15–0 Vicente Sandez KO 1 (10), 1:11 05 Dec 2015 Claudelands Arena, Hamilton, New Zealand Retained interim WBO Africa heavyweight title
14 Win 14–0 Ibrahim Labaran TKO 1 (10), 2:38 15 Oct 2015 Trusts Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand Won interim WBA Oceania & WBO Africa heavyweight titles
13 Win 13–0 Will Quarrie KO 2 (10), 2:14 01 Aug 2015 Stadium Southland, Invercargill, New Zealand
12 Win 12–0 Julius Long UD 8 13 Jun 2015 Arena Manawatu, Palmerston North, New Zealand
11 Win 11–0 Thomas Peato TKO 2 (6), 1:15 05 Mar 2015 Vodafone Events Centre, Auckland, New Zealand
10 Win 10–0 Junior Maletino Iakopo TKO 2 (6), 1:04 16 Oct 2014 Trusts Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand
9 Win 9–0 Lukasz Rusiewicz UD 6 23 Feb 2013 Ergo Arena, Gdańsk, Poland
8 Win 8–0 Mathieu Monnier TKO 5 (6) 08 Dec 2012 Spodek, Katowice, Poland
7 Win 7–0 Björn Blaschke TKO 6 (6), 1:05 17 Mar 2012 MOSiR Ice Rink, Krynica-Zdrój, Poland
6 Win 6–0 Florians Strupits TKO 1 (6), 1:50 03 Dec 2011 Hilton Warsaw Hotel, Warsaw, Poland
5 Win 5–0 Fatih Ceyhan RTD 3 (4), 3:00 12 Nov 2011 Gdynia Sports Arena, Gdynia, Poland
4 Win 4–0 Patrick Berger TKO 2 (4), 2:08 15 Oct 2011 Spodek, Katowice, Poland
3 Win 3–0 Rashid Raad UD 4 02 Apr 2011 Łuczniczka, Bydgoszcz, Poland
2 Win 2–0 Pavel Habr TKO 1 (4), 2:47 20 Nov 2010 AZS PWSZ Nysa, Nysa, Poland
1 Win 1–0 Igor Papunia KO 1 (4), 1:29 16 Oct 2010 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 26 November 2010.
  2. "Bałanda and European champions Ugonoh". trojmiasto.pl. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  3. "Description of the championship fights Izu website GKSK Corpus". gkskcorpus.pl. Archived from the original on 20 June 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  4. "Impressive victory 'Izu' in debut". ringpolska.pl. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  5. Tudor Leonte (12 July 2020). "KSW Signs Former Pro Boxing Heavyweight Champion Izu Ugonoh". sherdog.com.
  6. "Ugonoh: Z dumą reprezentuję Polskę". sport.dziennik.pl. 24 March 2010.
  7. "Osi Ugonoh wygrała 4. edycję "Top Model"!". Retrieved 3 June 2018.
Sporting positions
Regional boxing titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Joseph Parker		 WBA Oceania heavyweight champion
interim title
15 October 2015 – April 2016
Vacated		 Vacant
Title next held by
Junlong Zhang
Vacant
Title last held by
Joseph Parker		 WBO Africa heavyweight champion
15 October 2015 – July 2016
Vacated		 Vacant
Title next held by
Ebenezer Tetteh
Vacant
Title last held by
Cyril Leonet		 IBF Mediterranean heavyweight champion
1 October 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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