Avni Yıldırım (born 5 August 1991) is a Turkish professional boxer. He challenged for the WBC super-middleweight title in 2019, and the WBA (Super), WBC, and Ring magazine super-middleweight titles in 2021.

Professional career Yıldırım vs. Eubank Jr.

Yıldırım compiled a perfect record of 16-0 before challenging Chris Eubank Jr. for his IBO super-middleweight title on 7 October 2017 in Stuttgart, Germany as part of the World Boxing Super Series. Eubank Jr. was ranked #4 by the WBC and the IBF and #8 by the WBA. He was knocked down by Eubank Jr. in the first round, before being knocked out two rounds later.

Yıldırım vs. Mock Yıldırım beat Lolenga Mock by majority decision in their 12 round contest on 15 September 2018. Mock was ranked #15 by the WBC at super middleweight at the time.

Yıldırım vs. Dirrell Yıldırım rebounded from his first professional career loss with a run of five consecutive victories to improve to 21-1, before challenging Anthony Dirrell for the vacant WBC super-middleweight title on 23 February 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Dirrell was ranked #1 by the WBC at the time. After Dirrell was cut from an accidental head clash, the fight was stopped in the tenth round, with Dirrell emerging as the victor by split technical decision (96-94, 96-94, 92-98). Yıldırım was not happy with the stoppage, stating “I was upset. I wanted to keep going and finish the fight as a champion.” Yıldırım's promoter, Ahmet Oener, flew to Mexico City to meet with WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman to make their case for an immediate rematch. The WBC ultimately decided to resolve the matter by ordering a title fight between Dirrell and David Benavidez with the winner being mandated to face Yıldırım. However, Yıldırım was sidetracked by injury and the COVID-19 pandemic while maintaining his mandatory position.

Yıldırım vs. Álvarez Following a layoff of over two years, Yıldırım returned to the ring on 27 February 2021 at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami to face highly-regarded unified super-middleweight champion Canelo Álvarez, again challenging for the WBC super-middleweight title which now belonged to Álvarez, in addition to Álvarez's WBA (Super) and The Ring titles. A huge underdog, Yıldırım was unable to overcome the odds as his opponent proved too much for him. Yıldırım retired on his stool at the end of the third round, having landed only 11 punches total in the fight, compared to Álvarez's 67.

Yıldırım vs. Cullen Yıldırım faced Jack Cullen as part of Fight Camp in Brentwood, England on 31 July 2021. He lost a wide unanimous decision, with scores of 100-90, 98-92, 97-93 all in favor of Cullen.

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes34Win29–5Konstantin PonomarevTKO3 (8), 6 Jun 202633Win28–5Richard EgowaKO2 (8), 23 Nov 202532Win27–5Jhon CaicedoKO3 (10), 26 Jun 202531Win26–5Sergei GorokhovTKO3 (8), 9 Nov 202430Win25–5Ramal AmanovRTD4 (6), 6 Sep 202429Loss24–5Yusuf KanguelTKO9 (10), 14 May 202228Win24–4Yusuf KanguelUD1020 Nov 202127Win23–4Dominik AmeriUD825 Sep 202126Win22–4Slavisa SimeunovicKO1 (8), 21 Aug 202125Loss21–4Jack CullenUD1031 Jul 202124Loss21–3Canelo ÁlvarezRTD3 (12), 27 Feb 202123Loss21–2Anthony Dirrell10 (12), 23 Feb 201922Win21–1Lolenga Mock1215 Sep 201821Win20–1Jose Antonio Rodriguez1 (10), 14 Jul 201820Win19–1Ryan FordUD1212 May 201819Win18–1Derek EdwardsUD123 Mar 201818Win17–1Attila KordaTKO1 (8), 16 Dec 201717Loss16–1Chris Eubank Jr.KO3 (12), 7 Oct 201716Win16–0Marco Antonio PeribánUD1213 May 201715Win15–0Aliaksandr SushchytsTKO1 (12), 18 Feb 201714Win14–0Schiller HyppoliteTKO3 (10), 5 Nov 201613Win13–0Aaron Pryor JrUD1027 Aug 201612Win12–0Timur NikarkhoevTKO5 (8), 23 Jul 201611Win11–0Zoltan SeraTKO2 (8), 23 May 201610Win10–0Jackson JuniorKO2 (12), 6 May 20169Win9–0Walter Gabriel SequeiraUD1226 Feb 20168Win8–0Janne Forsman1 (12), 18 Dec 20157Win7–0Bernard DonfackUD1211 Oct 20156Win6–0Glen Johnson1015 Aug 20155Win5–0Steve KroekelTKO1 (8), 16 Jun 20154Win4–0Giorgi AduashviliTKO2 (4), 30 Apr 20153Win3–0Giorgi BeroshviliTKO3 (8), 27 Feb 20152Win2–0Aleksandar Jankovic1 (6), 14 Feb 20151Win1–0Davit Ribakoni422 Mar 2014

References

External links

Avni Yıldırım - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings at Box.Live