Denis Shafikov

Denis Shafikov Денис Шафиков
Shafikov in 2011
Statistics
Real name	Denis Fuatovich Shafikov
Nickname(s)	Genghis Khan
Rated at	Lightweight Light-welterweight
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Reach	174 cm (69 in)
Nationality	Russian
Born	(1985-06-03) 3 June 1985 Miass, Chelyabinsk, Soviet Union (now Russia)
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	41
Wins	38
Wins by KO	20
Losses	2
Draws	1

Denis Fuatovich Shafikov (Russian: Денис Фуатович Шафиков; born 3 June 1985) is a Russian professional boxer.^[1] He held the European super-lightweight title from 2011 to 2013, and has challenged twice for the IBF lightweight title, in 2014 and 2015. As of July 2016, Shafikov is ranked the world's seventh best lightweight by BoxRec, and eighth by The Ring magazine.^[2]

Early life and amateur career

According to Shafikov, he did not immediately take a liking to boxing when trying out different sports in childhood. He nonetheless began his amateur boxing career at 13 years old, in which he had "about 90 amateur fights and lost only 6 of them." His decision to turn professional was based on wanting to earn money for his family, rather than medals.^[3]

Professional career

Shafikov made his professional debut on 30 November 2003, winning a four-round unanimous decision over Pavel Lyakhov, who also debuted.^[1] For the next eleven years, Shafikov would remain undefeated while fighting mainly in Finland, having moved there in 2007.^[3] On 29 October 2010, he fought to a majority draw against Brunet Zamora, with the regional WBA Inter-Continental light-welterweight title on the line. A year later, on 23 September 2011, Shafikov won his first major regional championship—the European light-welterweight title—by forcing veteran contender Giuseppe Lauri to retire in his corner.^[4] Two successful defences of the title were made in 2012: the first was against Lee McAllister on 25 February, which ended in an eighth-round corner retirement.^[5] The second was a rematch with Zamora on 31 May, which Shafikov won via unanimous decision.^[6]

On 22 February 2014, Shafikov travelled to Macau to face IBF lightweight champion Miguel Vázquez. In what was described as a "lightweight title fight that completely sucked the air out of [the] venue" due to "clinching, headbutts and lots of other matters that don't quite reflect actual fighting", Vázquez went on to hand Shafikov his first professional loss in a lacklustre unanimous decision.^[7] The following year, on 18 December, Shafikov received another opportunity to fight for the now-vacant IBF lightweight title, this time against Rances Barthelemy, but lost again via unanimous decision.^[8] Shafikov returned on 2 July 2016 in emphatic style, beating down and stopping undefeated lightweight prospect Jamel Herring in the tenth and final round.^[9]

Professional boxing record

Personal life

Despite his nickname of "Genghis Khan", Shafikov is of Bashkir rather than Mongol ethnicity. The nickname was given to him by his Finnish promoter, with Shafikov saying that he wants to "conquer the world as Genghis Khan did." His favourite boxers include Mike Tyson and Manny Pacquiao.^[3]

References

External links

• Denis Shafikov at Top Rank (archived)