Elvir Muriqi (born April 29, 1979) is an Albanian former professional boxer.
Background Muriqi was born in Kosovo, which at the time was part of Yugoslavia. He moved to the United States in 1996 with his family to escape the growing tension in Kosovo. He boxed as an amateur in his homeland but never had a chance to become known outside Kosovo. Muriqi turned professional in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Career Muriqi competed as a pro boxer from 1998 to 2014, finishing with a record of 40 wins and 7 losses (24 KO's). His first professional loss was to journeyman boxer Danny Sheehan in a March 2000 bout that was televised by ESPN2. He rebounded to defeat Sheehan four months later. Danny Sheehan finished his career with 39 losses and was diagnosed with mild cognitive disorder with a strong likelihood of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in 2020. Muriqi also lost to Antonio Tarver in an IBO light heavyweight world title bout and Clinton Woods in an IBF light heavyweight world title eliminator match. His best wins are against Daniel Judah and Marlon Hayes. He was trained for part of his career by Teddy Atlas.
Professional boxing record
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="8"|40 Wins (24 knockouts, 15 decisions), 7 Losses (1 knockout, 5 decisions, 1 disqualification), 0 Draws |- ! Res. ! Record ! Opponent ! Type ! Rd., Time ! Date ! Location ! Notes |- align=center |Loss |align=center|40-7||align=left| Sean Monaghan
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Loss |align=center|40-6||align=left| Blake Caparello
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|40-5||align=left| Paul Vasquez
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|39-5||align=left| Chris Grays
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|38-5||align=left| Daniel Judah
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|37-5||align=left| Tiwon Taylor
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|36-5||align=left| Oleksandr Garashchenko
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Loss |align=center|35-5||align=left| Clinton Woods
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|35-4||align=left| Jameel Wilson
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Loss |align=center|34-4||align=left| Antonio Tarver
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|34-3||align=left| Derrick Reed
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|33-3||align=left| Ted Muller
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|32-3||align=left| Marlon Hayes
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Loss |align=center|31-3||align=left| Oleksandr Garashchenko
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|31-2||align=left| Caseny Truesdale
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Loss |align=center|30-2||align=left| Danny Santiago
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|30-1||align=left| Tony Menefee
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|29-1||align=left| Charles Ward
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|28-1||align=left| Thomas Reid
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|27-1||align=left| James Crawford
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|26-1||align=left| Tiwon Taylor
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|25-1||align=left| Mike Coker
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|24-1||align=left| Sam Ahmad
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|23-1||align=left| Mike Coker
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|22-1||align=left| Joseph Harris
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|21-1||align=left| Erin Fitchett
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|20-1||align=left| Darren Whitley
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|19-1||align=left| Napoleon Pitt
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|18-1||align=left| Ronald Boddie
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|17-1||align=left| Gary Campbell
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|16-1||align=left| Danny Sheehan
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|15-1||align=left| Jason Dietrich
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|14-1||align=left| Adrian Miller
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Loss |align=center|13-1||align=left| Danny Sheehan
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|13-0||align=left| Fermin Chirino
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|12-0||align=left| Angelo Simpson
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|11-0||align=left| Boyer Chew
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|10-0||align=left| Steve Ussery
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|9-0||align=left| Angelo Simpson
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|8-0||align=left| Thomas Barker
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|7-0||align=left| Marvin Ladson
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|6-0||align=left| Walter David
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|5-0||align=left| Eric Rhinehart
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|4-0||align=left| Tyrone Wallace
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|3-0||align=left| Johnny Walker
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|2-0||align=left| Billy Desser
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center |Win |align=center|1-0||align=left| Nicholas Robles
|align=left| |align=left| |- align=center
Notes
Awards Muriqi received a Sportsmanship award from Albanian Roots at the Albanian Roots Parade in the summer of 2013. Muriqi has been advertised in the Albanian American Success Stories magazine.
References
External links