Things you didn’t know about Sam Eggington’s opponent, Abass Baraou
England’s Sam Eggington (24-8, 20KO) is about to enter into World War 3 with German opponent Abass Baraou (14-1, 9KO).
The super welterweight rivals headline the Wasserman Boxing show tonight, March 1, at the Telford International Centre, live on Channel 5.
The vacant European title is on the line and the bill-topper also doubles up as a WBA eliminator, so there is a lot at stake.
‘Savage’ Sam is a fan-favourite, British boxing fans have been watching the Brummie headline shows on Sky Sports for years, and now he tops the Channel 5 billing on the first day of the month.
But who is his opponent travelling 800 miles to the UK to become the bookies favourite? Find out everything there is to know about Abass Baraou below:
Abass Baraou was born in Aalen, Germany, on October 28, 1994.
Despite being born in Germany, his family relocated back home to Togo in Africa shortly after his birth up until he was nine-years-old. He considers Togo as his home and played lots of football growing up there.
After moving back and settling in Oberhausen, near Dusseldorf, Abass attended a trial boxing session at a youth centre nearby his family apartment. He recalls finding it boring and not liking it much, but a trainer spotted his potential and persuaded him to take it up.
As an amateur he won bronze at the 2017 World Championships and gold at the 2017 European Championships, both at welterweight. He was also a three-time national amateur champion and three-time winner of the Chemistry Cup.
When he won his gold medal, he became the first German in seven years to win the competition, beating the talented Brit, Pat McCormack, in the final.
Trained by Ulli Wegner – a national amateur champion who had 176 bouts himself – Baraou made his pro debut on April 28, 2018, defeating compatriot Artur Mueller via fourth-round TKO.
In just his second bout, he fought for the German super welterweight title, beating the champion Denis Krieger on a 10-round unanimous decision, but it didn’t go down well as the loser spat at Baraou and gave spectators the middle finger for booing him. Abass defended the belt in his next fight via second-round stoppage.
Before he even completed his first year in the pros, he defeated former world champion, Carlos Molina, to claim the vacant WBC International super welterweight title.
He defended the title in October 2019 at the O2 Arena in London, with a sixth-round TKO of John O’Donnell on the undercard of the epic WBSS final between Josh Taylor and Regis Prograis.
His sole career defeat came at the hands of fellow German, Jack Culcay, in 2020. Culcay was a world champion in the amateurs and fought Demetrius Andrade for the WBA World super welterweight title, losing on a split.
Baraou now trains with Hall of Fame coach Jorge Rubio in Miami, America, having left Adam Booth and London behind after four years there. He continues to work with teammate Harlem Eubank.
He is currently ranked WBA #11 / IBO 16.
He plans to fight IBO super welterweight champion James Metcalf some time in the near future.
Abass enjoys running marathons in his spare time.