Jawaid Khaliq


Jawaid Khaliq, MBE, is a British former professional boxer. A dual Pakistan national, he became the first British Asian boxing world champion, winning the International Boxing Organization welterweight title and defending it seven times before retiring.
During his boxing career he also held the Commonwealth welterweight title, WBF Inter-Continental light-middleweight title, BBBofC Midlands Area light-middleweight and welterweight title. He is the first Kashmiri world champion boxer.

Personal life

Khaliq took up boxing at the age of 16. Within a short span of time, he went on to win the Amateur Boxing Association of England championships and fought for England. Whilst boxing, Khaliq also worked as a taxi driver to support his family and initially went back to the trade after retirement, later using it to fund his Boxing Academy. He achieved an MBE for his service to his community.

Professional career

Khaliq made his boxing debut at the age of 27 in 1997. Initially, he started taking fights on short notice, taking his second fight on a day's notice, and his third fight on two days' notice.

Light middleweight

As a light middleweight he held the WBF Inter-Continental Light Middleweight Title, winning the bout in way of 5th round TKO. He also held the BBBofC Midlands Area light-middleweight title, winning that bout in way of 6th round TKO.

Welterweight

As a welterweight, he held BBBofC Midlands Area welterweight title, winning the bout in way of 4th round TKO and Commonwealth welterweight title, before finally winning the International Boxing Organization welterweight title, and made seven defences before he chose to retire and vacate the title.

Promotional issues

Following the win over Willy Wise for the IBO World Welterweight Title, Khaliq started to want to pursue big fights in the U.S., coincidentally, world-class fighters such as Vernon Forrest started to call him out, but due to promotional issues Khaliq's ambitions failed to materialize.

Retirement

Khaliq chose to retire partly due to complications, stating;
"...I had a couple of years waiting for fights, seeing people pull out, fights not happening. I had a couple of fights cancelled. I was fed up, we started talking about come-back fights. I saw it as a backward step... I always wanted to test myself against the very best guys... I've lost the hunger."

Life after boxing

After boxing, Khaliq started working full-time as a taxi driver to support his wife and children.
After requests from people asking him to train them, Khaliq set up 'Jawaid Khaliq Boxing Academy' in Nottingham which he funded by working as a taxi driver. The club claimed to prevent anti-social behaviour, and the police had acknowledged that the club has helped with the creation of healthy relationships with the local youth. However, in 2013, the club faced financial hurdles as it could not afford to stay on its current premises and faced the threat to close-down.
Khaliq has helped raise awareness about firefighting within the British Asian community, and has previously taken initiatives to help recruit more firefighters from within the community with the partnership of the service.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
25 Win23–1-1 Ener JulioUD1214 Feb 2004 Harvey Hadden Leisure Centre, Nottingham, UKDefended IBO world welterweight title
24 Win22–1-1 Maxim NesterenkoUD1220 Sep 2003 Harvey Hadden Leisure Centre, Nottingham, UKDefended IBO world welterweight title
23 Win21–1-1 Jan Piet BergmanTKO7 1 Mar 2003 Carnival City Casino, Brakpan, South AfricaDefended IBO world welterweight title
22 Win20–1-1 Roman Dzhuman1216 Nov 2002 Harvey Hadden Leisure Centre, Nottingham, UKDefended IBO world welterweight title
21 Win19–1-1 Jose Joaquin Rosa GomezUD1227 Jul 2002 Harvey Hadden Leisure Centre, Nottingham, UKDefended IBO world welterweight title
20 Win18–1-1 Maxim NesterenkoTKO12, 23 Feb 2002 Harvey Hadden Leisure Centre, Nottingham, UKDefended IBO world welterweight title
19 Win17–1-1 Luther SmithTKO3, 3 Nov 2001 Bellahouston Leisure Centre, Glasgow, UK
18 Win16–1-1 Jacek BielskiTKO5, 15 Sep 2001 Harvey Hadden Leisure Centre, Nottingham, UKDefended IBO world welterweight title
17 Win15–1-1 Willy Wise1211 Jun 2001 Harvey Hadden Leisure Centre, Nottingham, UKWon IBO world welterweight title
16 Win14–1-1 Howard ClarkePTS626 Feb 2001 Harvey Hadden Leisure Centre, Nottingham, UK
15 Win13–1-1 Sean SullivanPTS1227 Nov 2000 Aston Villa Leisure Centre, Birmingham, UKWon vacant Commonwealth welterweight title
14 Win12–1-1 Trevor SmithTKO1 28 Oct 2000 Coventry Skydome, Coventry, UK
13 Win11–1-1 Ernie SmithTKO4 13 Aug 2000 Victoria Baths, Nottingham, UKWon vacant BBBofC Midlands Area welterweight title
12 Win10–1-1 Dennis BerryTKO6, 2:2221 May 2000 Pennine Hotel, Derby, UKWon vacant BBBofC Midlands Area super-welterweight title
11 Win9–1-1 Jason CollinsPTS627 Feb 2000 Leeds Town Hall, Leeds, UK
10 Win8–1-1 Lee BirdTKO4 15 Jan 2000 Doncaster Dome, Doncaster, UK
9 Win7–1-1 Dirk Kaltenbach2 14 Dec 1999 Telde, Islas Canarias, Spain
8 Win6–1-1 Lee MurtaghTKO5, 0:3527 Sep 1999 Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds, UKWon vacant WBF Inter-Continental light-middleweight title
7 Loss5–1-1 Frederic KlosePTS83 Dec 1998 Epernay, Marne, France
6 Win5–0-1 Harry ButlerPTS45 Sep 1998 Ice Rink, Telford, UK
5 Win4–0-1 Koba KuluPTS47 Mar 1998 Rivermead Leisure Centre, Reading, UK
4 Win3–0-1 TakalooTKO4, 2:477 Feb 1998 Grundy Park Leisure Centre, Cheshunt, UK
3 Draw2–0-1 Mark Ramsey413 Dec 1997 Ponds Forge Arena, Sheffield, UK
2 Win2–0 Martin HolgateTKO6, 2:3913 Sep 1997 London Arena, Millwall, UK
1 Win1–0 Richard Inquieti5, 1:1518 Aug 1997 Welcome Inn, Nottingham, UKProfessional debut