Aqib keeps up unbeaten record

MANCHESTER: British Pakistani boxer Aqib Fiaz kept up his unbeaten record with a comfortable points win over Dean Jones.

The 20-year-old Oldham based boxer showed off his blistering speed and skill, taking the scorecard 40-36.

This was Aqib’s 5th strai­ght win in professional circuit and first at MEN Arena.

The new boxing sensation dominated the fight and had Dean Jones on the ropes for large parts of the contest.

But despite taking plenty of punishment from Fiaz throughout the fight which lasted for four rounds the Telford based boxer hung on to see the final bell, Fiaz won every one of the four rounds but missed out on a possible first knockout.

He said after the win: “It feels amazing, thank you to all the great fans that turned out, I have got one of the best fan-bases around I think and it’s getting bigger and bigger every fight.”

“I have been training really hard at our training camp, I fight with my heart on my sleeve and give it everything I’ve got. I had a chance of my first knock out but I missed out on it. If I took my time a bit more and boxed behind the jab a bit more I could have maybe got him out of there.

“You could see towards the end he was clinging on. But it was a good learning fight and we go away and watch it back and keep developing,” he added. Fiaz said, “No doubt Pakistani diaspora have great talent in boxing but it depends on how families can support young kids during training and develop them into fighters. I have learnt a lot from my brother and my family was very supportive throughout my career. I hope my success in the sport will encourage more British Pakistani kids to take boxing as a profession.”

Aqib is trained by Jamie Moore alongside Carl Frampton, Martin Murray and others. Fiaz is no stranger to being around the sport’s biggest names.

Aqib took up boxing at the age of 8. He boxed out of Northside ABC in Manchester and won the national youth English title in the 60kg weight category. He got his first Team England call in 2016 where he went on to represent the team multiple times and won gold.