Abass Baraou

Baraou was born on 28 October 1994 in Aalen, Germany. Shortly after his birth, his family returned to their homeland of Togo, where he spent the first nine years of his life before moving back to Germany and settling in Oberhausen.[2] When he was 13 years old, the energetic Baraou attended a trial boxing training session offered at a youth center near his apartment.[3] Although he didn't like it all that much, thinking it was too boring, he was spotted by a trainer that saw him hit the punching bag and persuaded him to continue training with him.[4]

He became the first German in seven years to win a gold medal at the continental stage when he took first place in the welterweight event at the 2017 European Championships in Ukraine, upsetting the favorite Pat McCormack in the final.[4] Later that year at the World Championships in Hamburg he reached the semi-finals of the welterweight tournament, where he fell to two-time Olympic medalist Roniel Iglesias.[5]

He was also a three-time national champion and a three-time winner of the prestigious Chemistry Cup.

Baraou made his professional debut under legendary trainer Ulli Wegner on 28 April 2018, defeating undefeated compatriot Artur Mueller via fourth-round technical knockout (TKO) at the Baden Arena in Offenburg. In his second fight he took the German BDB light-middleweight title from Denis Krieger (14–5–2, 9 KO) with a ten-round unanimous decision (UD) victory over the Moldovan-born fighter.[22][23] As the final bell rang, Krieger spat at Baraou and insulted him in the post-fight interview. The Hanover crowd booed him as he offered the fans in attendance both middle fingers several times while exiting the venue.[24][25] Four months later, on 6 October, Baraou retained his belt against Robert Maess (22–1, 20 KO), the man Krieger had originally beaten for the title in January.[26] He knocked his opponent down with a powerful left in the second round, and even though Maess was saved by the bell, he retired in his corner to give Baraou the victory.[27]

On 16 February 2019, less than ten months after his pro debut, he defeated Mexican former world champion Carlos Molina by unanimous decision after twelve rounds for the vacant WBC International light-middleweight title.[28][29] In May he defeated former IBO world champion Ali Funeka in Frankfurt, stopping the 41-year-old veteran in the fifth round.[30] He followed that up with his first fight abroad, a TKO victory over Egyptian prospect Abdelghani Saber (8–0–1, 8 KO) at the Caesars Palace in Dubai.[31] After Baraou dropped him once in the first round, he floored him again with a body shot in the second that he was not able to get up from.[32] One and a half months later he defended his WBC International title against John O'Donnell on the undercard of the Regis Prograis–Josh Taylor World Boxing Super Series super lightweight final at The O2 Arena in London. Baraou sent him to the canvas late in the sixth round, and continued his attack after O'Donnell got to his feet, prompting the referee to stop the fight with one second left in the period.[33]

After a main event stoppage victory over Mexican rival Abraham Juarez in Hamburg in January 2020, Baraou moved to England to train under the tutelage of highly regarded coach Adam Booth.[34] His second title defense was announced for 4 April against Nick Klappert (28–3, 15 KO), but was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.

• Boxing record for Abass Baraou from BoxRec (registration required)