Things you didn't know about Hassan Mwakinyo
There’s a ‘Tornado’ heading to Liverpool
Despite already fighting in the UK once before and causing an upset, there’s still not a lot known about Liam Smith's next opponent Hassan Mwakinyo, so BBN have provided fight fans with a list of interesting facts below:
Who is Hassan Mwakinyo?
Hassan Mwakinyo was born Hythani Hamza Halfan on March 15, 1995, in Tanga, Tanzania, and is now 27.
He is currently the No.1 ranked super-welterweight in Tanzania.
His nickname is ‘Tornado’, as well as ‘One Time’.
He made his professional debut on November 29, 2015, winning 58-56 on points against Alibaba Tarimo, who had 12 wins and 12 defeats at the time of fighting.
In just his third bout, Mwakinyo jumped into a title fight for the Tanzania Pugilistic Syndicate super-welterweight title against Shabani Kaoneka but was knocked out in the sixth round of a scheduled 10.
His only other professional career defeat was when challenging for the vacant WBC Youth World super-welterweight title against unbeaten Russian Lendrush Akopian in Moscow, which he lost via unanimous decision.
In September 2018, Mwakinyo came to Birmingham to upset Sam Eggington with a second-round KO.
In his last fight, in September 2021, he defeated former unified world super-lightweight champion Julios Indongo with a fourth round stoppage.
He has fought 18 times in Tanzania; once in Russia, Botswana, Kenya; and now a second time in England.
He has sparred with WBA Gold super-welterweight champion Michel Soro, as well as unbeaten prospect Steven Nelson, and former EBU European Union champion Daniele Scardina.
He has also sparred his forthcoming opponent Liam Smith before.
He is ranked WBC #16 and IBO #19. BoxRec list him as #40 in the world.
He is a big fan of Terence Crawford, and also counts himself as a fan of Anthony Joshua because of the Brit's African roots.
The East African is very religious and celebrates 'Eid' with his fellow Muslims.
He is a colourful character and often wears very loud, bright clothes and Hawaiian shirts, as well as big hats, and can often be seen dancing in the gym.
Roll of Honour
Tanzania Professional Boxing Commission super welterweight title
East & Central African Professional Boxing Federation super welterweight title
WBA Pan African super welterweight title
UBO International super welterweight title
World Boxing Federation Intercontinental super welterweight title
African Boxing Union super welterweight title
Bio
Bouts: 22
Rounds: 114
Wins: 20
Losses: 2
Draws: 0
KOs: 14
KO Ratio: 63.64%
Age: 27
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 5' 8"
Reach: 72"
How to Watch Liam Smith vs Hassan Mwakinyo
Date: Saturday, September 3, 2022.
Venue: M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool.
Rounds scheduled: 12 three-minute rounds at super-welterweight (154lbs).
Titles: There are no titles on the line.
Ringwalks: Ringwalks can be expected from around 10pm.
TV Coverage: Coverage starts live on Sky Sports Action (Sky channel 408) from 7pm-11pm.
Live Stream: You can watch online via the Sky Sports website here: https://www.skysports.com/watch
There is one other way that you can watch if you are not a Sky TV customer, or if you are just out and about on Saturday night by simply finding a suitable pub that is showing the event by visiting pubfinder.sky.com
BBN will be providing LIVE round-by-round results on fight night HERE
Tickets: Tickets for this event are on sale now at BOXXER.com starting from £40.
Undercard Highlights: Dan Azeez (16-0, 11KO) vs Shakan Pitters (17-1, 6KO) for the British light-heavyweight title will be a cracker of a contest! Lewisham's 'Super' Azeez defends the Lonsdale belt he won against Hosea Burton last year to Birmingham's Pitters, who is a former English and British champion who lost the title in his first defence to Craig Richards in 2020, which remains his only career defeat. 'Shak' will have a significant height advantage from the away corner at 6ft 6in, but the 5ft 10in South Londoner has been simply superb since stepping up to championship level. It's a real 50-50 pick'em fight.
Background: Making his way to Merseyside to face the hometown hero is the heavy-handed Hassan Mwakinyo, who shocked the British boxing fanbase on his 2018 visit to the UK when he demolished the infamously tough Sam Eggington in just two rounds.
Undefeated since then and coming off three consecutive stoppage victories, the former WBF Intercontinental champion has scored 70% of his victories by KO or TKO, has stopping power in both hands and is traveling to the UK intent on upsetting the home fans once again.
Currently ranked in the top five by three of boxing’s major sanctioning bodies, ‘Beefy’ Smith – who won the WBO World Light-Middleweight Championship in 2015 – has blasted his name back into the world championship contender conversation with stoppage wins in his last two fights and is now set on winning a second world title as part of the BOXXER stable.
Predictions: Tim Rickson, BBN Editor: “Liam Smith is an educated, intelligent fighter and I fully expect him to dominate in this fight to edge closer to a world title shot.”
Related Articles: Everything you need to know about Smith-Mwakinyo can be found HERE
Betting Odds (Betway)
1/18 Smith
8/1 Mwakinyo
28/1 Draw
Running Order
Main Event:
Liam Smith vs Hassan Mwakinyo
12×3 Super-welterweight contest
Co-Main Event:
Tasha Jonas vs Patricia Berghult
10×2 WBC & WBO World super-welterweight titles
Chief Support:
Dan Azeez vs Shakan Pitters
12×3 British light-heavyweight title
Frazer Clarke vs Pencho Tsvetkov
6×3 Heavyweight contest
Adam Azim vs Michel Cabral
10×3 WBC Youth super-lightweight title
Nathan Quarless vs Michael Webster
6×3 Cruiserweight contest
Diego Costa vs Musa Moyo
6×3 Super-middleweight contest
Paddy Lacey vs Seamus Devlin
8×3 Super-lightweight contest
Frankie Stringer vs Karl Sampson
4×3 Lightweight contest
Scott Forrest vs Dmitru Kalinovsku
4×3 Cruiserweight contest
Clark Smith vs Petar Aleksandrov
4×3 Welterweight contest
