David Adeleye

David Bankole Adeleye
Born
David Bankole Adeleye

(1996-11-16) 16 November 1996 (age 28)
London, England
NationalityBritish
Other namesBig D
Statistics
Weight(s)Heavyweight
Height6 ft 4+1⁄2 in (194 cm)
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights14
Wins13
Wins by KO12
Losses1

David Bankole Adeleye[1] (born 16 November 1996) is a British professional boxer. He is the current English heavyweight champion.

Early life

Adeleye was born on 16 November 1996 in London, England, the son of Nigerian parents who hailed from Ikole in Ekiti State, Nigeria.[2] Adeleye's parents never wished for him to go into professional boxing until he had at least finished higher-education.[2][3] When Adeleye was growing up, he admired Lennox Lewis, Muhammad Ali and Roy Jones Jr.[4]

Amateur career

Adeleye began boxing at the Dale Youth Club, at the age of 14, under the tutelage of Gary McGuiness.[5] He became Junior ABA champion in 2013, and winning the Senior ABA Novices in 2017 before winning the Senior ABA title in 2018.[6][7] He later represented England in an international against Denmark in 2018 and secured gold at the British Universities and Colleges Sport Boxing Championships.[8]

Professional career

On 12 July 2019, it was confirmed that Adeleye had turned professional under Frank Warren's Queensberry Promotions banner.[9] Adeleye made his professional debut on 21 December 2019, on the undercard of Daniel Dubois against Kyotaro Fujimoto for the vacant WBC Silver heavyweight title at the Copper Box Arena in London.[10] The referee, Mark Bates, called a halt to proceedings as Adeleye defeated Lithunaian fighter Dmitrij Kalinovskij via technical knockout (TKO) in the first round.[11] On 10 July 2020, Adeleye returned with a second-round knockout over Matt Gordon at the BT Sport Studio in London.[12][13] Adeleye's third fight was a return to the BT Sport Studio on 29 August against Phil Williams, whom Adeleye stopped in the third round, achieving his third knockout victory in a row.[14]

Adeleye fought Fabio Wardley on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou in Saudi Arabia on 28 October 2023, for the vacant Commonwealth heavyweight strap, Wardley’s British championship, and Adeleye’s WBO European heavyweight belt. He lost the fight via TKO in the seventh round which resulted in him losing his undefeated record. Adeleye was knocked down in the seventh round from a left hook, which left him flat on his back, before managing to get back up on nine seconds of the 10 count.[15] Wardley then unleashed a barrage of punches with nothing coming back from Adeleye, resulting in the referee calling a stop to the fight, thereby declaring Wardley the winner by technical knock-out.[16] Adeleye protested the stoppage and assaulted the referee John Latham,[17] which will likely draw a punishment from the British Boxing Board of Control.[18]

After more than a year away from competitive action, Adeleye returned to the ring on 7 December 2024, stopping English heavyweight champion Solomon Dacres in the first round of their fight at Wembley Arena in London.[19][20]

Personal life

Adeleye, who had combined amateur boxing with his studies, graduated in 2018 from the University of Wolverhampton with a degree in business management, in which his dissertation was on the business aspect of boxing.[21]

Professional boxing record

14 fights 13 wins 1 loss
By knockout 12 1
By decision 1 0
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
14 Win 13–1 Solomon Dacres TKO 1 (10), 1:20 7 Dec 2024 Wembley Arena, London, England Won the English heavyweight title
13 Loss 12–1 Fabio Wardley TKO 7 (12) 2:43 28 Oct 2023 Boulevard Hall, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Lost WBO European heavyweight title;
For British, WBA Continental and vacant Commonwealth heavyweight titles
12 Win 12–0 Emir Ahmatovic RTD 5 (10), 3:00 9 Jun 2023 York Hall, London, England Retained WBO European heavyweight title
11 Win 11–0 Dmytro Bezus TKO 2 (10), 1:48 17 Feb 2023 York Hall, London, England Won WBO European heavyweight title
10 Win 10–0 Elvis Garcia TKO 2 (6), 2:27 11 Nov 2022 York Hall, London, England
9 Win 9–0 Chris Healey TKO 4 (8), 0:52 23 Apr 2022 Wembley Stadium, London, England
8 Win 8–0 Dominik Musil RTD 4 (8), 3:00 12 Nov 2021 York Hall, London, England
7 Win 7–0 Mladen Manev TKO 4 (6), 1:54 24 Jul 2021 The SSE Arena, London, England
6 Win 6–0 Kamil Sokołowski PTS 6 24 Apr 2021 York Hall, London, England
5 Win 5–0 Dave Preston KO 1 (4), 1:20 26 Mar 2021 Copper Box Arena, London, England
4 Win 4–0 Danny Whitaker TKO 2 (6), 2:09 28 Nov 2020 Church House, London, England
3 Win 3–0 Phil Williams TKO 3 (4), 2:10 29 Aug 2020 BT Sport Studio, London, England
2 Win 2–0 Matt Gordon TKO 2 (4), 2:44 10 Jul 2020 BT Sport Studio, London, England
1 Win 1–0 Dmitrij Kalinovskij TKO 1 (4), 2:25 21 Dec 2019 Copper Box Arena, London, England

References

  1. ^ Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1984–2004. Gives name at birth as "David Olanrewaju Adeleye".
  2. ^ a b Adeoye, Adewale (12 July 2020). "23-year old Ekiti Boy Looks Up To World Heavy Weight Champion By Adewale Adeoye". Newspot Nigeria. Retrieved 28 November 2020.[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ Morgan, Tony (17 April 2020). "23-year old Ekiti Boy Looks Up To World Heavy Weight Champion By Adewale Adeoye". Evening Standard. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  4. ^ Nagioff, Jonathan (16 April 2020). "One To Watch: David Adeleye". Pro Boxing Fans. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  5. ^ Scott, Craig (18 January 2020). "EXCLUSIVE: David Adeleye – "Life: Bigger Than Boxing…"". Boxing Social. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  6. ^ "David Adeleye Enters The Heavyweight Mix With Frank Warren". Boxing Scene. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  7. ^ "English Junior & Youth National Championships". Amateur Boxing. 26 May 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  8. ^ "Knock-out success for student boxer". University of Wolverhampton. 5 February 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  9. ^ "ADELEYE ADDED TO THE HEAVYWEIGHT MIX". Queensberry Promotions. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  10. ^ "Heavyweight hopeful David Adeleye discusses Daniel Dubois sparring sessions". British Boxing News. 29 June 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  11. ^ Foster, Elliot (21 December 2019). "David Adeleye Begins Pro Career With First-Round Stoppage". Boxing Scene. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  12. ^ Mole, Dan (21 July 2020). "Gordon Hoping For Home Comforts". IntuBoxing. Archived from the original on 6 December 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  13. ^ "David Adeleye-Matthew Gordon". BBC. 10 July 2020. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  14. ^ Singh, Rishabh (30 August 2020). "KNOCKOUT! David Adeleye Crushes Phil Williams in the Third Round". EssentiallySports. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  15. ^ "Fabio Wardley stops David Adeleye in seventh round to retain British heavyweight championship". www.tntsports.co.uk. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  16. ^ "Wardley stops Adeleye to retain British heavyweight title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  17. ^ "David Adeleye angrily shoves referee after crushing knockout defeat to Fabio Wardley". talkSPORT. 28 October 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  18. ^ Idec, Keith (28 October 2023). "Fabio Wardley Drops, Stops David Adeleye in Seventh of Grudge Match". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  19. ^ "David Adeleye knocks out Solomon Dacres in one round". Boxing News Online. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  20. ^ "Two Big Heavyweight KO's In London As Lawrence Okolie And David Adeleye Have Early Nights – Boxing Results". Boxing 247. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  21. ^ Mbamalu, Socrates (29 January 2020). "Nigerian Heavyweight Boxer David Adeleye Makes Professional Debut". AllAfrica. Retrieved 28 November 2020.