Jawaid Khaliq, MBE (born 30 July 1970), is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2004. A dual Pakistan national, he became the first British Asian boxing world champion, winning the lightly-regarded IBO welterweight title in 2001 and defending it seven times before retiring three years later. He also held multiple regional championships, including the Commonwealth welterweight title in 2000.
Personal life Khaliq was born to Pakistani parents in Meadows, Nottingham on 30 July 1970. Khaliq took up boxing at the age of 16. Within a short span of time, he went on to win the Amateur Boxing Association of England championships and fought for England. Whilst boxing, Khaliq also worked as a taxi driver to support his family and initially went back to the trade after retirement, later using it to fund his Boxing Academy. He achieved an MBE for his service to his community.
Professional career Khaliq made his boxing debut at the age of 27 in 1997. Initially, he started taking fights on short notice, taking his second fight on a day's notice, and his third fight on two days' notice.
Light middleweight As a light middleweight he held the WBF Inter-Continental Light Middleweight Title, winning the bout in way of 5th round TKO. He also held the BBBofC Midlands Area light-middleweight title, winning that bout in way of 6th round TKO.
Welterweight As a welterweight, he held BBBofC Midlands Area welterweight title, winning the bout in way of 4th round TKO and Commonwealth welterweight title, before finally winning the International Boxing Organization welterweight title, and made seven defences before he chose to retire and vacate the title.
Promotional issues Following the win over Willy Wise for the IBO World Welterweight Title, Khaliq started to want to pursue big fights in the U.S., coincidentally, world-class fighters such as Vernon Forrest started to call him out, but due to promotional issues Khaliq's ambitions failed to materialize.
Retirement Khaliq chose to retire partly due to complications, stating;
"...I had a couple of years waiting for fights, seeing people pull out, (and) fights not happening. I had a couple of fights cancelled. I was fed up, (after which) we started talking about come-back fights. I saw it as a backward step... I always wanted to test myself against the very best guys... I've lost the hunger."
Life after boxing After boxing, Khaliq started working full-time as a taxi driver to support his wife and children.
After requests from people asking him to train them, Khaliq set up 'Jawaid Khaliq Boxing Academy' in Nottingham which he funded by working as a taxi driver. The club claimed to prevent anti-social behaviour, and the police had acknowledged that the club has helped with the creation of healthy relationships with the local youth. However, in 2013, the club faced financial hurdles as it could not afford to stay on its current premises and faced the threat to close-down.
Khaliq has helped raise awareness about firefighting within the British Asian community, and has previously taken initiatives to help recruit more firefighters from within the community with the partnership of the service.
Professional boxing record
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes25 Win23–1-1 Ener JulioUD1214 Feb 2004 24 Win22–1-1 Maxim NesterenkoUD1220 Sep 2003 23 Win21–1-1 Jan Piet BergmanTKO7 (12)1 Mar 2003 22 Win20–1-1 Roman Dzhuman1216 Nov 2002 21 Win19–1-1 Jose Joaquin Rosa GomezUD1227 Jul 2002 20 Win18–1-1 Maxim NesterenkoTKO12 (12), 23 Feb 2002 19 Win17–1-1 Luther SmithTKO3 (8), 3 Nov 2001 18 Win16–1-1 Jacek BielskiTKO5 (12), 15 Sep 2001 17 Win15–1-1 Willy Wise1211 Jun 2001 16 Win14–1-1 Howard ClarkePTS626 Feb 2001 15 Win13–1-1 Sean SullivanPTS1227 Nov 2000 14 Win12–1-1 Trevor SmithTKO1 (6)28 Oct 2000 13 Win11–1-1 Ernie SmithTKO4 (10)13 Aug 2000 12 Win10–1-1 Dennis BerryTKO6 (10), 21 May 2000 11 Win9–1-1 Jason CollinsPTS627 Feb 2000 10 Win8–1-1 Lee BirdTKO4 (6)15 Jan 2000 9 Win7–1-1 Dirk Kaltenbach2 (8)14 Dec 1999 8 Win6–1-1 Lee MurtaghTKO5 (12), 27 Sep 1999 7 Loss5–1-1 Frederic KlosePTS83 Dec 1998 6 Win5–0-1 Harry ButlerPTS45 Sep 1998 5 Win4–0-1 Koba KuluPTS47 Mar 1998 4 Win3–0-1 TakalooTKO4 (4), 7 Feb 1998 3 Draw2–0-1 Mark Ramsey413 Dec 1997 2 Win2–0 Martin HolgateTKO6 (6), 13 Sep 1997 1 Win1–0 Richard Inquieti5 (6), 18 Aug 1997
See also
British Pakistanis
References
External links Jav Boxing Academy