Facts about Dan Azeez
South London sensation 'Super' Dan Azeez (20-0, 13KO) is about to headline in the biggest show of his career at The O2 Arena in Greenwich on Saturday, October 21, against friend-turned-foe Joshua Buatsi (17-0, 13KO) in a defence of his British and Commonwealth light-heavyweight titles, which doubles up as a WBA World title eliminator.
Ahead of the eagerly awaited 50-50 domestic showdown, where the winner will face WBA king Dmitrii Bivol next, BBN found out some interesting facts about Azeez:
Dan Azeez was born August 30, 1989 in Lewisham, London.
Dan was one of six children brought up by his single mother in a council house. He has three younger brothers and two sisters.
As a youngster, he admits to getting into a bit of trouble when mixing with the wrong crowds, but he was a good scholar and attained his GCSE's and A-Levels. He then went on to acheive a Masters in Accounting and Finance.
He started boxing at 14, in the same club as Joshua Buatsi, but stopped for a while because the gym was always full up.
Azeez started boxing competitively whilst studying at Essex University where he got a degree in Accounting and Finance. He boxed under the tutelage of Gordon Charlesworth at the Colchester-based Halstead and Essex University Boxing amateur boxing club. He had over 60 contests and was crowned ABA South of England champion three times and won the prestigious Box Cup tournament in 2013 at London's Alexandra Palace. His last amateur bout was in April 2017. “As an amateur, I was always getting to finals of the nationals and so on, and would lose by a small margin, which was frustrating,” he recalls.
His pro debut was on December 2, 2017, winning against Daniel Borisov at the Brentwood Centre in Essex, with an unusually wide score for a four-rounder – 40-33. Borisov was down twice in the fourth round and also had one point deducted.
Azeez initially turned pro with MTK Global, who have now been disbanded.
The Lewisham lad is trained by Brian O’Shaughnessy, and recently joined Buddy McGirt in 2022.
He is the only British light-heavyweight to capture all British Boxing Board of Control domestic titles Southern Area (July 2019); English (Dec 2019); British (Nov 2021); Commonwealth (Dec 2022); European (March 2023).
He has sparred with his forthcoming opponent, Joshua Buatsi, as recently as February this year; as well as Artur Beterbiev in Montreal and Callum Smith in Miami.
The light-heavyweight is quite small for his division, open admitting, "I'm a midget. I'm 5ft 10in, just about."
His boxing heroes include Roy Jones Jr and fellow south Londoner David Haye. He also admires Anthony Joshua.
He models his look in the ring, with high socks and red velvet shorts, on Marvin Hagler. He even dons the same red baseball cap as 'Marvellous' Marvin, with the word 'WAR' written on it.
He recently became a brand ambassador for sportswear clothing brand, Castore.
The local hero has run free boxing classes at Woodpecker Youth Club in New Cross for 10-16-year-olds in a bid to promote the sport and encourage kids to stay off the streets. He also runs some classes at amateur boxing club Double Jab in Deptford, as well as visiting local schools in his area to give inspirational talks to young students.
The south Londoner is an Arsenal FC fan.
He is a big animal lover and wants to own a pet Hyacinth Macaw one day.
World Rankings: WBC #3; WBA #2; IBF #4 ; WBO #3 ; IBO #3.
Buatsi vs Azeez fight breakdown
Buatsi-Azeez fight predictions
How to watch Buatsi-Azeez
Buatsi-Azeez running order & ringwalk times
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