Bakhodir Jalolov Ready For World Title Challenges

Jalolov will be returning to the ring this weekend at Barys Arena in Astan, Kazakhstan. The two-time Olympic gold medalist says he is ready for the big stage now and will be welcoming any challenges that come his way.

The heavy weight boxer from Uzbekistan has won two gold medals already. The first coming in Tokyo 2020 Olympics for the super heavyweight category against Richard Torrez. After losing 3-2 in the first round, Jalolov came back stronger to win the bout by unanimous decision.

The second gold medal came in the Paris 2024 Olympics. This time the Uzbek won all his fights by unanimous decision in the build-up to the final which he won gold. This win came against Spain’s Ayoub Ghadfa in dominant fashion as he handed the Spaniard two standing counts in just the first round earning a victory by unanimous decision.

After winning the gold medal, Jalolov placed his jersey in the middle of the ring to symbolize his retirement from amateur boxing. He went on after to make a statement on his Instagram page about his retirement from amateur boxing and now the focus is full on his professional boxing.

In his professional career, all 14 of his pro fights have ended in stoppage victories. Impressively, seven of the stoppages have come in the first round. Now it is time for him to prove that he can compete in the top 10 category.

Jalolov will be facing Ihor Shevadzutskyi (12-2, 10 KOs) this weekend on the Janibek Alimkhanuly-Anauel Ngamissengue card at Barys Arena in Astana, Kazakhsta. This will be the first of what he hopes to be a busy 2025.

Jalolov has high hopes and dreams to place his country on the map in the sports world. He wants to be among the few athletes that give hope to the kids in Uzbekistan that they can make it in sports as they already have a good example in Abdukodir Khusanov who currently plays in the Premier League for Manchester City.

Jalolov thinks he is ready for fighters like Usyk and Joshua in the heavyweight division but was humble enough to say that only God knows the direction of his career.

“Allah knows best, I will have three or four fights this year, 2025 we’ll see what happens,” said Jalolov.