Karo Murat


Karen Muratyan, best known as Karo Murat, is an Armenian-German professional boxer who held the IBO light-heavyweight title in 2018. At regional level, he held the European super-middleweight title from 2008 to 2009 and the light-heavyweight version in 2017.

Boxing career

Early professional career

Murat made his professional debut in Hessen, Germany on 23 September 2006 defeating Matus Sestak. Three more fights during his debut year resulted in three more wins including a victory in Austria on 18 November. A very busy 2007 saw Murat fight another eleven times again winning on each occasion and travelling to Russia, Spain, Austria and Switzerland and well as fighting a number of times in Germany. Of his victories during the year, of particular note were wins over Jermain MacKay on 18 August 2007 at the Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin and Emiliano Cayetano at the Seidensticker Halle in Bielefeld on 29 December 2007. Both fighters had boasted only one defeat so far in their careers with Mackay and Cayetano both former Caribbean champions.

European super middleweight champion

On 16 February 2008, in his first fight of the year, Murat defeated Sergey Kharchenko at the Nuremberg Arena to lift the EBU-EE super middleweight title via stoppage in the 10th round. In his next fight, Murat travelled to Neubrandenburg to fight for the full European belt against Cristian Sanavia on 12 April 2008, winning with a 12-round unanimous decision. A first defence in Bielefeld on 20 September 2008 resulted in a majority points win over Spain's Gabriel Campillo before meeting Sanavia again on 28 February 2009. The re-match again in Neubrandenburg saw Murat once again come out on top, this time stopping Sanavia in the 10th round and registering a second successful defence of the title.

Light heavyweight

Having achieved success at super middleweight, Murat moved up to light heavyweight and fought Serhiy Demchenko to win the vacant WBO light heavyweight title via unanimous decision on 29 August 2009 in Halle. His first defence against Guyana's Sean Corbin resulted in a second round stoppage win on 30 January 2010. Murat successfully defended his title once more on 1 May 2010 beating Tommy Karpency over 12 rounds, knocking him down in the second, in Oldenburg, Germany. On 18 September 2010 Murat faced Nathan Cleverly in a WBO light heavyweight title eliminator, losing for the first time in his career by a tenth-round TKO. The bout was waved off by the referee as the 10th round was about to commence, following a doctor's inspection in the corner between rounds. There were no bruises or blood on Karo's face and he was instantly furious at the referee's poor decision. He rebounded from the defeat on 12 February 2011 with an eight-round points win over Christian Cruz and followed this on 7 May 2011 winning the IBF version of the Inter-continental title against American boxer Otis Griffin with an 11th round stoppage. He made his first defence of the title in a rematch against Spaniard Gabriel Campillo on 1 October 2011 in a fight which was also billed as an IBF title eliminator with the fighters earning a draw, the first of Murat's career. Murat then faced the IBF light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins on 26 October 2013 in Atlantic City, and lost by unanimous decision. On 1 July 2017, Murat upset the previously undefeated Dominic Bösel with an eleventh round TKO and won the vacantEBU light heavyweight title. Murat defeated Travis Reeves by TKO in the 12th round to win the vacant IBO light heavyweight title on 24 March 2018.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
37Loss32–4–1 Sven FornlingUD1215 Dec 2018 Sporthalle, Hamburg, GermanyLost IBO light-heavyweight title
36Win32–3–1 Travis ReevesTKO12, 1:5224 Mar 2018 Inselparkhalle, Wilhelmsburg, GermanyWon vacant IBO light-heavyweight title
35Win31–3–1 Dominic BoeselTKO11, 2:261 Jul 2017 Ballsport Arena, Dresden, GermanyWon vacant European light-heavyweight title
34Win30–3–1 Yevgeni MakhteienkoTKO12, 2:4617 Sep 2016 Goeppi, GermanyWon vacant WBA Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title.
33Win29–3–1 Esteban Hillman TababaryTKO1, 2:504 Jun 2016 Autohaus Duerkop, Kassel, Germany
32Win28–3–1 Aleksandar TodorovicPTS613 Feb 2016 ECB Boxgym, Hamburg, Germany
31Loss27–3–1 Sullivan BarreraKO5, 0:2512 Dec 2015 Civic Auditorium, Glendale, California, USIBF light-heavyweight title eliminator
30Win27–2–1 Benjamin SimonTKO7, 2:1825 Apr 2015 Columbiahalle, Berlin, GermanyWon vacant IBF International light-heavyweight title
29Win26–2–1 Leo TchoulaTKO4, 2:4831 Oct 2014 Kugelbake-Halle, Cuxhaven, Germany
28Loss25–2–1 Bernard HopkinsUD1226 Oct 2013 Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USFor IBF light-heavyweight title
27Win25–1–1 Sandro SiproshviliTKO7, 2:212 Jun 2012 Herning Kongrescenter, Herning, Denmark
26Draw24–1–1 Gabriel CampilloSD121 Oct 2011 Jahnsportforum, Neubrandenburg, GermanyRetained IBF Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title
25Win24–1 Otis GriffinTKO11, 2:597 May 2011 Jahnsportforum, Neubrandenburg, GermanyWon vacant IBF Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title
24Win23–1 Christian CruzUD812 Feb 2011 RWE Rhein-Ruhr Sporthalle, Mülheim, Germany
23Loss22–1 Nathan CleverlyTKO9, 3:0018 Sep 2010 LG Arena, Birmingham, England
22Win22–0 Tommy KarpencyUD121 May 2010 Weser-Ems-Halle, Oldenburg, GermanyRetained WBO Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title
21Win21–0 Shawn CorbinTKO2, 2:4130 Jan 2010 Jahnsportforum, Neubrandenburg, GermanyRetained WBO Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title
20Win20–0 Serhiy DemchenkoUD1229 Aug 2009 Gerry Weber Stadium, Halle, GermanyWon vacant WBO Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title
19Win19–0 Cristian SanaviaTKO10, 0:0528 Feb 2009 Jahnsportforum, Neubrandenburg, GermanyRetained European super-middleweight title
18Win18–0 Gabriel CampilloMD1220 Sep 2008 Seidensticker Halle, Bielefeld, GermanyRetained European super-middleweight title
17Win17–0 Cristian SanaviaUD1212 Apr 2008 Jahnsportforum, Neubrandenburg, GermanyWon European super-middleweight title
16Win16–0 Sergey KharchenkoTKO10, 1:2016 Feb 2008 Nuremberg Arena, Nuremberg, GermanyWon vacant European External super-middleweight title
15Win15–0 Emiliano CayetanoTKO7, 2:0729 Dec 2007 Seidensticker Halle, Bielefeld, Germany
14Win14–0 Gabor BaloghTKO1 24 Nov 2007 Stadthalle, Steyr, Austria
13Win13–0 Szabolcs RimovszkyKO2, 1:0415 Sep 2007 Frankie`s BF Arena, Oberpullendorf, Austria
12Win12–0 Jermain MackeyUD818 Aug 2007 Max Schmeling Halle, Berlin, Germany
11Win11–0 Sergey BotnikovKO4, 1:5030 Jun 2007 Olympisky Sport Hall, Moscow, Russia
10Win10–0 Mustapha StiniRTD2, 0:2426 May 2007 Jako Arena, Bamberg, Germany
9Win9–0 Nicolas PerilloUD68 May 2007 Pabellon San Jose, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
8Win8–0 Sergey GribkovUD624 Mar 2007 Yunost, Kaliningrad, Russia
7Win7–0 Pavels LotahsUD63 Mar 2007 Stadthalle, Rostock, Germany
6Win6–0 Mirko SinovcicTKO1 17 Feb 2007 Universal Hall, Berlin, Germany
5Win5–0 Yves RomainvilleKO1, 1:4120 Jan 2007 St. Jakob Halle, Basel, Switzerland
4Win4–0 Biagio PateraUD416 Dec 2006 BigBox, Kempten, Germany
3Win3–0 Petr RykalaTKO1 18 Nov 2006 Stadthalle, Steyr, Austria
2Win2–0 Tanju GuenesKO1, 1:234 Nov 2006 RWE Rhein-Ruhr Sporthalle, Mülheim, Germany
1Win1–0 Matus SestakKO1, 1:4823 Sep 2006 Karl Eckel Halle, Hattersheim am Main, Germany