Teenage boxer Ali Tazeem, who had been compared to Amir Khan, has tragically passed away following a car crash. The news was confirmed by boxing agent and promoter Sam Jones from the Probellum boxing company on Sunday morning.
“It’s just awful news,” Jones, who works as Probellum’s head of talent relations, told Express Sport. “We all feel shocked and send our condolences to his family. He was a special person and a special fighter who was going to go on and do great things.”
Jones had earlier taken to social media to reveal the sad news. “This morning I woke up to the news that @_AliTazeem has passed away at the age of 18,” he wrote on Twitter. “I can’t believe it, I can’t even process it properly. We only spoke yesterday talking about how he was going to light up the pro game. All I can think about is Ali and his lovely family.
Probellum signed Tazeem just three weeks ago and he was tipped to have a big future in the sport after lighting up amateur boxing. The 18-year-old, who was born in Wolverhampton, won 15 international gold medals in a 51-bout amateur career.
Tazeem had tasted success 45 times as an amateur and won medals at major tournaments such as the Monkstown Box Cup. He had been lauded for his lightning quick abilities and defensive capabilities during the early stages of his career. And Olympic silver medallist Khan previously said: “He will be the next me and make history.”
Tazeem had previously caught the attentions of Khan when he won two gold medals in the Bristol Boxing Cup. And Khan had tipped him to make a name for himself. “I definitely think he is the next big thing for sure,” Khan told the Express & Star in 2020. “I mean, the skillset he has, the movement, everything really reminds me of myself when I was younger and how I used to fight.
“Definitely, I think he has got everything it takes [to succeed]. What was particularly impressive for me was he moved up a weight class to make it more challenging, and ended up winning gold in both weight categories [in Bristol]. Since then, I have kept in touch with him.”
Before his untimely death, Tazeem, who had previously stated he believed he could be “the best in the business,” had been taken on the pads by the legendary Floyd Mayweather Snr. And he also delivered boxing training to Wolves winger Adama Traore, who is currently on loan at Spanish giants Barcelona.
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