And the Sheikh Fahad bin Khalid al-Thani juggernaut keeps rolling on.
Qatar’s first professional boxer notched up his 13th straight victory, this time in Zaragoza in Spain, to keep his slate sparkling clean.
A month after celebrating his 32nd birthday with a victory in Madrid, the super welterweight boxer was 300-odd km east of the Spanish capital, going up against Romanian veteran Marius Petre Sorin on Saturday.
Sheikh Fahad won by a knockout in the third round to stay unbeaten in his pro career and pick up his second victory against Sorin. In July, the Qatari had beaten Sorin with a technical knockout in Leon, Spain.
It was also his third victory with Franck Bohec as his head coach. Bohec, who has been Sheikh Fahad’s longtime trainer, took over from Cuban coach Ismael Salas.
“I controlled the bout, and I showed good poise and patience for the first time rather than just rushing in,” Sheikh Fahad told Gulf Times Sunday.
“There has been progress under Franck Bohec and I have been working with (Puerto Rican boxer) Carlos A Leon in training,” he added.
Not the one to pay too much attention to rankings and ratings, even though they have seen understandable improvement, Sheikh Fahad said that the team was more focused on “looking at experience and developing the skills”.
In his previous bout last month against Ionut Bogheanu, a straight cross from the Romanian had briefly dropped Sheikh Fahad before the latter bounced back for his 12th victory.
“I have had no break since my September bout. I went straight to the gym and worked on the mistakes that occurred in that bout,” Sheikh Fahad said.
Sheikh Fahad made a winning debut against Hungary’s Bela Sandor in May 2016. He has since beaten a string of Romanians — Adrian Parlogea (thrice), Gheorghe Ghiompirica (twice), Marius Racaru (twice), Bogheanu (twice), Sorin (twice) and Dumitru Nicu Manea.
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