David Bankole Adeleye[1] (born 16 November 1996) is a British professional boxer. He is the current English heavyweight champion.
David Bankole Adeleye | |
---|---|
Born | David Bankole Adeleye 16 November 1996 London, England |
Nationality | British |
Other names | Big D |
Statistics | |
Weight(s) | Heavyweight |
Height | 6 ft 4+1⁄2 in (194 cm) |
Stance | Orthodox |
Boxing record | |
Total fights | 14 |
Wins | 13 |
Wins by KO | 12 |
Losses | 1 |
Early life
editAdeleye was born on 16 November 1996 in London, England, the son of Nigerian parents who hailed from Ikole in Ekiti State, Nigeria.[2] Adeleye's parents never wished for him to go into professional boxing until he had at least finished higher-education.[2][3] When Adeleye was growing up, he admired Lennox Lewis, Muhammad Ali and Roy Jones Jr.[4]
Amateur career
editAdeleye began boxing at the Dale Youth Club, at the age of 14, under the tutelage of Gary McGuiness.[5] He became Junior ABA champion in 2013, and winning the Senior ABA Novices in 2017 before winning the Senior ABA title in 2018.[6][7] He later represented England in an international against Denmark in 2018 and secured gold at the British Universities and Colleges Sport Boxing Championships.[8]
Professional career
editOn 12 July 2019, it was confirmed that Adeleye had turned professional under Frank Warren's Queensberry Promotions banner.[9] Adeleye made his professional debut on 21 December 2019, on the undercard of Daniel Dubois against Kyotaro Fujimoto for the vacant WBC Silver heavyweight title at the Copper Box Arena in London.[10] The referee, Mark Bates, called a halt to proceedings as Adeleye defeated Lithunaian fighter Dmitrij Kalinovskij via technical knockout (TKO) in the first round.[11] On 10 July 2020, Adeleye returned with a second-round knockout over Matt Gordon at the BT Sport Studio in London.[12][13] Adeleye's third fight was a return to the BT Sport Studio on 29 August against Phil Williams, whom Adeleye stopped in the third round, achieving his third knockout victory in a row.[14]
Adeleye fought Fabio Wardley on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia on 28 October 2023, for the vacant Commonwealth heavyweight strap, Wardley’s British championship, and Adeleye’s WBO European heavyweight belt. He lost the fight via TKO in the seventh round which resulted in him losing his undefeated record. Adeleye was knocked down in the seventh round from a left hook, which left him flat on his back, before managing to get back up on nine seconds of the 10 count.[15] Wardley then unleashed a barrage of punches with nothing coming back from Adeleye, resulting in the referee calling a stop to the fight, thereby declaring Wardley the winner by technical knock-out.[16] Adeleye protested the stoppage and assaulted the referee John Latham,[17] which will likely draw a punishment from the British Boxing Board of Control.[18]
After more than a year away from competitive action, Adeleye returned to the ring on 7 December 2024, stopping English heavyweight champion Solomon Dacres in the first round of their fight at Wembley Arena in London.[19][20]
Personal life
editAdeleye, who had combined amateur boxing with his studies, graduated in 2018 from the University of Wolverhampton with a degree in business management, in which his dissertation was on the business aspect of boxing.[21]
Professional boxing record
edit14 fights | 13 wins | 1 loss |
---|---|---|
By knockout | 12 | 1 |
By decision | 1 | 0 |
No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
14 | Win | 13–1 | Solomon Dacres | TKO | 1 (10), 1:20 | 7 Dec 2024 | Wembley Arena, London, England | Won the English heavyweight title |
13 | Loss | 12–1 | Fabio Wardley | TKO | 7 (12) 2:43 | 28 Oct 2023 | Boulevard Hall, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | Lost WBO European heavyweight title; For British, WBA Continental and vacant Commonwealth heavyweight titles |
12 | Win | 12–0 | Emir Ahmatovic | RTD | 5 (10), 3:00 | 9 Jun 2023 | York Hall, London, England | Retained WBO European heavyweight title |
11 | Win | 11–0 | Dmytro Bezus | TKO | 2 (10), 1:48 | 17 Feb 2023 | York Hall, London, England | Won WBO European heavyweight title |
10 | Win | 10–0 | Elvis Garcia | TKO | 2 (6), 2:27 | 11 Nov 2022 | York Hall, London, England | |
9 | Win | 9–0 | Chris Healey | TKO | 4 (8), 0:52 | 23 Apr 2022 | Wembley Stadium, London, England | |
8 | Win | 8–0 | Dominik Musil | RTD | 4 (8), 3:00 | 12 Nov 2021 | York Hall, London, England | |
7 | Win | 7–0 | Mladen Manev | TKO | 4 (6), 1:54 | 24 Jul 2021 | The SSE Arena, London, England | |
6 | Win | 6–0 | Kamil Sokołowski | PTS | 6 | 24 Apr 2021 | York Hall, London, England | |
5 | Win | 5–0 | Dave Preston | KO | 1 (4), 1:20 | 26 Mar 2021 | Copper Box Arena, London, England | |
4 | Win | 4–0 | Danny Whitaker | TKO | 2 (6), 2:09 | 28 Nov 2020 | Church House, London, England | |
3 | Win | 3–0 | Phil Williams | TKO | 3 (4), 2:10 | 29 Aug 2020 | BT Sport Studio, London, England | |
2 | Win | 2–0 | Matt Gordon | TKO | 2 (4), 2:44 | 10 Jul 2020 | BT Sport Studio, London, England | |
1 | Win | 1–0 | Dmitrij Kalinovskij | TKO | 1 (4), 2:25 | 21 Dec 2019 | Copper Box Arena, London, England |
References
edit- ^ Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1984–2004. Gives name at birth as "David Olanrewaju Adeleye".
- ^ a b Adeoye, Adewale (12 July 2020). "23-year old Ekiti Boy Looks Up To World Heavy Weight Champion By Adewale Adeoye". Newspot Nigeria. Retrieved 28 November 2020.[permanent dead link ]
- ^ Morgan, Tony (17 April 2020). "23-year old Ekiti Boy Looks Up To World Heavy Weight Champion By Adewale Adeoye". Evening Standard. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ^ Nagioff, Jonathan (16 April 2020). "One To Watch: David Adeleye". Pro Boxing Fans. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ^ Scott, Craig (18 January 2020). "EXCLUSIVE: David Adeleye – "Life: Bigger Than Boxing…"". Boxing Social. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ^ "David Adeleye Enters The Heavyweight Mix With Frank Warren". Boxing Scene. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ^ "English Junior & Youth National Championships". Amateur Boxing. 26 May 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ^ "Knock-out success for student boxer". University of Wolverhampton. 5 February 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ^ "ADELEYE ADDED TO THE HEAVYWEIGHT MIX". Queensberry Promotions. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ^ "Heavyweight hopeful David Adeleye discusses Daniel Dubois sparring sessions". British Boxing News. 29 June 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ^ Foster, Elliot (21 December 2019). "David Adeleye Begins Pro Career With First-Round Stoppage". Boxing Scene. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ^ Mole, Dan (21 July 2020). "Gordon Hoping For Home Comforts". IntuBoxing. Archived from the original on 6 December 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ^ "David Adeleye-Matthew Gordon". BBC. 10 July 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ^ Singh, Rishabh (30 August 2020). "KNOCKOUT! David Adeleye Crushes Phil Williams in the Third Round". EssentiallySports. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
- ^ "Fabio Wardley stops David Adeleye in seventh round to retain British heavyweight championship". www.tntsports.co.uk. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
- ^ "Wardley stops Adeleye to retain British heavyweight title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
- ^ "David Adeleye angrily shoves referee after crushing knockout defeat to Fabio Wardley". talkSPORT. 28 October 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
- ^ Idec, Keith (28 October 2023). "Fabio Wardley Drops, Stops David Adeleye in Seventh of Grudge Match". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
- ^ "David Adeleye knocks out Solomon Dacres in one round". Boxing News Online. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
- ^ "Two Big Heavyweight KO's In London As Lawrence Okolie And David Adeleye Have Early Nights – Boxing Results". Boxing 247. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
- ^ Mbamalu, Socrates (29 January 2020). "Nigerian Heavyweight Boxer David Adeleye Makes Professional Debut". AllAfrica. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
External links
edit- Boxing record for David Adeleye from BoxRec (registration required)