Ismayl Sillakh (born February 9, 1985 in Zaporizhia

Zaporizhia

Zaporizhia or Zaporozhye [formerly Alexandrovsk ] is a city in southeastern Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper River. It is the administrative center of the Zaporizhia Oblast...

, then Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

) is a Ukrainian

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

 professional boxer

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

 who has medaled in important international tournaments as an amateur.

Amateur highlights

Amateur Record: 302-16

2001 (October 11–21) Gold Medalist World Cadet Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, boxing as a Welterweight (67 kg):

• Round of 16 - Defeated Robert Blazo (Slovakia)
• Quarterfinal - Defeated Rodriguez (Cuba)
• Semifinal - Defeated Artur Beterbiyev
  Artur Beterbiyev
  Artur Asilbekovich Beterbiyev is a Chechen amateur boxer best known to win silver at the 2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships and gold at the 2009 World Amateur Boxing Championships and the Euro title 2006 at light heavyweight.-Career:The aggressive puncher Beterbiyev won the 2006 European...
  
   (Russia)
• Final - Defeated Elchin Alizade
  Elchin Alizade
  Elchin Alizade is an Azerbaijani amateur boxer best known to win silver at the 2005 World championships at heavyweight 201 lbs limit.-Career:...
  
   (Azerbaijan)

2005 (November 13–20) Silver Medalist World Championships in Mianyang, China, boxing as a Middleweight (75 kg):

• Round of 32 - Defeated Nabil Kassel
  Nabil Kassel
  Nabil Kassel is an Algerian boxer best known to win the middleweight gold at the 2007 All-Africa Games. The family name is Kassel, Algerians generally write this first .-Career:...
  
   (Algeria) RSCI
• Round of 16 - Defeated Donatas Bondorovas (Lithuania) RSCI 1
• Quarterfinal - Defeated Mamadou Diambang (France) RSCO
• Semifinal - Defeated Mohamed Hikal
  Mohamed Hikal
  Mohamed Hikal is a male boxer from Egypt. He is best known for having won a bronze medal in the men's middleweight division at the 2005 World Amateur Boxing Championships.-Career:...
  
   (Egypt) 28-22
• Final - Lost to Matvey Korobov
  Matvey Korobov
  Matvey Georgiyevich Korobov is a Russian professional boxer best known for winning the middleweight amateur world title in 2005 and 2007, and being a part of the Russian team at the 2005 Boxing World Cup.-Amateur career:...
  
   (Russia) RSCO 2

2006 (July 14–23) Silver Medalist European Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, boxing as a Light-Heavyweight (81 kg):

• Round of 32 - Defeated David Tsiklauri (Georgia) RSC 1
• Round of 16 - Defeated Andrey Miruk (Belarus) RSCO 2
• Quarterfinal - Defeated Imre Szello
  Imre Szello
  Imre Szellő is a Hungarian amateur boxer who has qualified for the 2008 Olympics.-2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships:...
  
   (Hungary) RSCI 1
• Semifinal - Defeated Constantin Bejenaru (Romania) RSCO 3
• Final - Lost to Artur Beterbiyev
  Artur Beterbiyev
  Artur Asilbekovich Beterbiyev is a Chechen amateur boxer best known to win silver at the 2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships and gold at the 2009 World Amateur Boxing Championships and the Euro title 2006 at light heavyweight.-Career:The aggressive puncher Beterbiyev won the 2006 European...
  
   (Russia) 23-34

Pro

In early March 2011, Sillakh was 14-0, with 12 wins by knockout. Managed by Ivaylo Gotzev and trained by Shadeed Suluki, on 4 March 2011 he defeated Yordanis Despaigne

Yordanis Despaigne

Yordanis Despaigne Herrera is a Cuban professional boxer who, as an amateur boxer, has medaled repeatedly in international tournaments as a middleweight.-Career:...

 in a unanimous decision.

Professional boxing record

| style="text-align:center;" colspan="8"|17 Wins (14 Knockouts), 0 Defeats, 0 Draws
|- style="text-align:center; background:#e3e3e3;"
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Res.
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Record
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Opponent
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Type
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Rd., Time
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Date
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Location
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Notes
|- align=center
|Win
|17-0
|align=left| Azerbaijan Ali Ismailov
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|- align=center
|Win
|16-0
|align=left| Sweden Hamza Wandera
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|15-0
|align=left| Cuba Yordanis Despaigne

Yordanis Despaigne

Yordanis Despaigne Herrera is a Cuban professional boxer who, as an amateur boxer, has medaled repeatedly in international tournaments as a middleweight.-Career:...

|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|14-0
|align=left| United States Rayco Saunders
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|13-0
|align=left| Latvia Jevgenijs Andrejevs
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|12-0
|align=left| United States Daniel Judah

Daniel Judah

Daniel Harvey Judah is an American southpaw professional cruiserweight and light heavyweight boxer.His 33-fight record through 10/28/08 is 23-7-3, with 10 wins coming via knockout.He is the brother of Jr...

|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|11-0
|align=left| United States Larry Pryor
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|10-0
|align=left| United States Julius Jackson
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|9-0
|align=left| United States Ray Smith
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|8-0
|align=left| Canada David Whittom
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|7-0
|align=left| United States Carlos Reyes
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|6-0
|align=left| Mexico Jose Humberto Corral
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|5-0
|align=left| United States Dewayne Warren
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|4-0
|align=left| Georgia (country) Armen Azizian
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|3-0
|align=left| United States Walter Edwards
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|2-0
|align=left| United States Jose Grace
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|
|- align=center
|Win
|1-0
|align=left| United States Matt Halvorsen
|
|
|
|align=left|
|align=left|

Personal life

Sillakh grew up in an educated, middle-class household in Zaporozhye, Ukraine. His parents—Mohammad of Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...

 and Natalya, a Ukraine native—met in college and had no particular connection to boxing but he found the sport at a local recreation center at age seven and quickly discovered that he had the athletic ability to excel at it.

He began competing at age nine and was recognized as one of Ukraine’s better amateurs a few years later before establishing himself as one of Europe’s premier open-class boxers. Sillakh had been a world-ranked amateur for two years going into the 2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships

2007 World Amateur Boxing Championships

The 2007 AIBA World Boxing Championships were held in Chicago, United States from October 23, 2007 to November 3, 2007. It was held at the UIC Pavilion. It was the biggest World Championships in AIBA history. The championships were originally awarded to Moscow...

 in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 where he lost a close and spirited slugfest to the more mature Christopher Downs

Christopher Downs

Christopher Downs is a US-American amateur boxer best known to win bronze at the Pan American Games 2007 at light heavyweight.-Career:A member of the U.S...

.

External links

• 2001