Innocent Anyanwu (born 25 September 1982) is a Dutch professional boxer from Amsterdam, Netherlands. He currently holds the Dutch and BeNeLux Super Featherweight titles.
Biography Innocent Anyanwu was born in Ekwerazu, Imo State, Nigeria. When he was 13 his mother died and Innocent quit school. Shortly thereafter he started to work as a car mechanic in his brother's garage. However, he had a dream to practise sports in Germany, even though he did not know which sport. He left Nigeria when he was 16 and went to Cameroon without a passport because he did not have one. Since Cameroon is a French-speaking country, the language barrier proved a problem. Still, after that, he went to another French-speaking country, Gabon, where a brother of his was living. Through German tourists, Innocent learned that he needed several visas in order to compete in sports there. Since he did not have a passport, Innocent never went to Europe.
Professional career
Innocent started his boxing career in Amsterdam, Netherlands in 2001. After promising his trainer Martin Jansen total dedication to the sport, an intense training regime started and the cooperation continued until today. After three months, Innocent participated in his first boxing match which he won. The victory parade of Innocent continued through the amateur ranks in national and international boxing matches in The Netherlands. Innocent fought against boxers from not only the Netherlands but also from Belgium, Russia and Germany. With only 3 losses (early in his boxing career) in 36 contests, and many wins by (T)KO, Innocent wanted to represent the Netherlands at the Olympics in Athens but was denied because he did not hold Dutch nationality. Innocent then went back to his native country Nigeria where he captured the national amateur title and Champion of Champions trophy at super-featherweight. That enabled Innocent to return to the Netherlands and reunite in 2005 with his longtime boxing trainer Martin Jansen to continue his professional boxing career.
In 2005, Innocent made his pro debut. He fought 20 times up to October 2009 in and outside the Netherlands and never lost a fight. He captured the Dutch national and smaller European (BeNeLux) crown. Innocent's goal is to support his people in Ekwerazu, Nigeria through his boxing career. His results as a sportsman and social human being were awarded by the Dutch Queen with a Dutch passport (with a radio chip and coil), which enables him to participate on short notice in a European championship fight.
Professional boxing record
22 Wins (13 KO), 13 Loss (4 KO), 3 DrawsResultRecordOpponentDateLocationNotesLoss11-5-1 Ahmed El HamwiUD 8 2014-02-01 Ingelmunster, Belgium Loss20-0-0 Edis TatliKO 5 2013-08-17 Savonlinna, Finland Loss13-0-0 Steve JamoyeUD 8 2013-06-29 Liege, Belgium Draw6-0-1 Arnaud DimidschteinMD 8 2013-03-23 Hainaut, Belgium Loss9-2-0 Hedi SlimaniUD 8 2013-02-02 Ingelmunster, Belgium Loss25-0-1 Jean Pierre BauwensUD 8 2012-02-18 Izegem, Belgium Loss24-23-3 Ruddy EncarnacionUD 8 2012-10-15 Amsterdam, Netherlands Loss25-2-0 Gary BucklandPTS 8 2012-07-21 Wales, United Kingdom Loss21-8-2 Arash UsmaneeUD 8 2012-02-18 Quebec, Canada Loss23-4-0 Ermano Fegatilli UD 8 2011-12-23 Liege, Belgium Loss22-22-3 Ruddy EncarnacionTKO 8 2011-11-11 Antwerp, BelgiumWin2-24-0 Pascal BouchezUD 6 2010-05-16 Amsterdam, Netherlands Loss21-8-2 Antonio João BentoKO10 2010-05-16 Hilversum, Netherlands Vacant EBA super featherweight titleWin0-8-0 Tahir CelicRTD 4 2009-11-28 Hoyer's Gym, HeerlenWin21-3-0 Sergio PalomoTKO 3 2009-10-26 Carré, AmsterdamWin14–3-0 Herve De LucaTKO 3 2009-04-19 BussumDraw14–4-0 Hovhannes ZhamkochyanMD 10 2008-12-25 Izegem, West-VlaanderenBeNeLux lightweight title Win7–2-0 Karen BoyadjyanTKO 6 2008-11-01 Izegem, West-VlaanderenDefended BeNeLux super featherweight title Win10–3-0 Mhand BoukedimTKO 6 2008-10-13 Carré, AmsterdamWin4–4-1 Nico SchroederTKO 3 2008-09-20 RotterdamWin6–32-0 Zsolt BotosKO 3 2008-05-12 Deinze, East FlandersWin0–12-0 Pascal BouchezUD 6 2008-04-19 RotterdamWin9–2-0 Araik SachbazjanUD 10 2008-04-13 The HagueWon vacant Dutch super featherweight title Win0–4-0 Felician TrifTKO 2 2008-02-17 The HagueWin5–9-0 Younes AmraniUD 8 2007-06-09 AntwerpWin9–0-1 Herve De LucaKO 7 2007-05-01 Bruges, West FlandersWon vacant BeNeLux super featherweight title Win5–10-0 Lubos PriehradnikPTS 8 2006-12-16 BrusselsWin9–40-0 Bela SandorPTS 6 2006-09-30 StadskanaalWin1–10-0 Josef HolubKO 5 2006-05-20 PurmerendHolub not able to beat the count after a body-shot. No suspension required by the doctor.Draw4-4-2 Erik NazarianPTS 8 2006-05-01 Bruges, West FlandersWin 0–5-0 Zsolt BotosPTS 6 2006-09-30 BarneveldWin0–1-0 Josef Holub PTS 4 2006-02-25 SpakenburgReferee: Hennie De Rijk 40-37 Win3–0 Daniel ChituTKO 3 2005-11-12 HelmondWin2–0 Chad BisschopPTS 6 2005-11-12 AmersfoortReferee: Hennie De Rijk 59-56 Win0-1–0 Tomas Berki TKO 2 2005-10-01 Hilversum
References
Innocent Anyanwu: Kippenbakker en profbokser, BN DeStem
External links