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Faizan Anwar is a 19-year-old professional boxer who has been training and fighting in the well-known Round 10 Boxing Club in Dubai.
Hailing from Kolkata, India, Anwar has been working towards his goal of being a boxer from the young age of eight.
Learning from Mujtaba Kamal, a former boxer and a professional boxing coach, Faizan made his presence known in the amateur boxing scene with the goal of winning gold in the Olympics.
However, he has made a few changes to his approach in boxing, which he was happy to talk to Sportskeeda about.
Faizan Anwar made the jump to professional boxing from amateur boxing
One of the changes that he made was switching to professional boxing from amateur, as it focuses on higher-level techniques with a lot more emphasis on stamina and strength training.
Currently, he is a professional boxer with a 5-0-0 record as of October 2020.
The maximum of 12 rounds that competitors negotiate in professional boxing has helped him to practice at the highest level and be ready for three rounds in amateur boxing.
Talking about the reasons why he transitioned to professional boxing, Faizan Anwar had this to say.
“This kind [professional boxing] of training will not only keep my body well-conditioned, it will also make sure I have played a higher number of rounds than any amateur in the ring by 2024[Olympics]”.
The goal is clear, Olympic Gold in 2024.
Faizan won his last professional boxing fight at the Rotunda Rumble IV on October 9th, 2020. The scores were in his favour as he clinched his 5th straight win, improving his professional record to 5-0-0.
The win was decisive in nature as well, with the combined scorecards reading 60-53.
His uncle and professional boxing coach Mujtaba Kamal also opened up about his nephew's natural boxing ability and the progress under his tutelage.
"When I saw him at the sub-junior state championship in Kolkata a couple of years ago, I saw the fire and potential I had in me when I was younger. I thought he could achieve something that I worked for but couldn’t achieve due to lack of support and guidance. And now, proudly, I can say I made the right decision investing my time on him when I saw his outstanding performance in his recent fight in Dubai which was broadcast on the ESPN Plus channel.
Needless to say, behind his success is the Round 10 boxing club in Dubai with its great management and coaches. That has helped shape Faizan up to be his best."
Elaborating on his inspiration, Faizan Anwar mentioned the likes of Mike Tyson and Mohammad Ali but also spoke about his uncle, Mujtaba Kamal, who has helped him build on his legacy.
“I stepped into my uncle’s gym when I was 8 and since then there has been no going back. Boxing has given me a lot to discover about myself and I pray I can help whoever develops boxing as their way of life”.
With four extremely tough years of boxing ahead of him, Faizan Anwar is also focused on becoming a WBC Champion in the future.
Next year, Faizan Anwar has a massive challenge in the form of the Youth World Title fight, which both his manager Jose Mohan and his promoter Ahmed A. Siddiqui are extremely excited about.
Heading into the fight, Faizan Anwar and his team are convinced that he could be India's first-ever professional boxing World Champion.
