Fiaz retains unbeaten record after defeating Jones

MANCHESTER: British Pakistani Boxer Aqib Fiaz remained unbeaten 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 on Saturday night. This was Fiaz’s fifth straight win in professional circuit and first at Manchester Arena.

The new boxing sensation dominated the fight and had 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 who turned out, I have got one of the best fanbases around I think and it’s getting bigger and bigger every fight.”

He added: “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 knockout 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.”

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.”

Fiaz is no stranger to being around the sport’s biggest names, as he is trained by Jamie Moore alongside Carl Frampton, Martin Murray and others. He took up boxing at the age of eight. 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.