Qatar’s first professional boxer Sheikh Fahad bin Khalid al-Thani was unstoppable in his super-welterweight bout in Valladolid, Spain, on Friday.
The 31-year-old stretched his unbeaten record to 10-0, picking up a dominant win over Romania’s Marius Racaru, after the southpaw retired in the second round.
This was the second time that Sheikh Fahad had come up against Racaru, having fought him two years ago, almost to the day, in Barcelona.
“A milestone has been achieved,” Sheikh Fahad told Gulf Times yesterday, referring to his tenth pro victory.
“I feel great and learned a lot from the fight. It was a great experience.”
Talking about his bout, Sheikh Fahad, who is coached by Ismael Salas and has Franck Bohec as his trainer in Doha, said, “Going against Marius was very tricky; he is a southpaw with very, very good fundamentals and a strong amateur background. He was tactically correct at the beginning of the first round, but I slowly adjusted and tried to find gaps after weathering the initial storm.
“Caught a few of his straight left hands, which were very straight and accurate. However, I tried to close the gaps, and put more pressure, and moved sideways to find the openings for the body shot.”
Giving some context to his strategy, he spoke about his first fight against Racaru.
“When I had fought him the first time, I had caught him with a very, very strong hook to the body. However, this time he managed to control the distance very well. He didn’t allow me to come in close, to throw the same hook, and countered me. However, I found success with the right hook, after feigning the jab, which was quite good,” Sheikh Fahad said.
Going into the Friday’s bout, Sheikh Fahad had told this newspaper that he plans to fight in 4-6 bouts this calendar year.
Yesterday, he added, “It’s another stepping stone, another day in the ring, good experience and I look forward to continue. Hopefully the next fight is very soon, before Ramadan. I will try to squeeze one in. I need to sit with my team and review the next step forward.”
Sheikh Fahad made a winning debut against Hungary’s Bela Sandor in May 2016. He has since beaten a string of Romanians, including Adrian Parlogea (thrice), Gheorghe Ghiompirica (twice), Racaru (twice) Ionut Bogheanu and Dumitru Nicu Manea.
Qatar’s Sheikh Fahad bin Khalid al-Thani (left) in action against Romania’s Marius Racaru on Friday.
