Izu Ugonoh

Izuagbe Ugonoh (born 2 November 1986) is a Polish-Nigerian mixed martial artist and former professional boxer and kickboxer. He is a graduate of the Jędrzej Śniadecki University School of Physical Education and Sport in Gdańsk.

Izu Ugonoh
Born	2 November 1986 Szczecin, Poland
Nationality	Polish-Nigerian
Height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight	232.1 lb (105.3 kg; 16.58 st)
Division	Cruiserweight Heavyweight Heavyweight (MMA)
Reach	84 in (213 cm)
Style	Boxing
Fighting out of	Warszawa, Poland
Team	Berkut WCA Fight Team
Years active	2010–2019 (boxing) 2020–present (MMA)
Professional boxing record
Total	20
Wins	18
By knockout	15
Losses	2
Mixed martial arts record
Total	1
Wins	1
By knockout	1
Losses	0
Other information
Boxing record from BoxRec
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Early life

Izuagbe was born to Nigerian parents in the Polish city of Szczecin. He graduated from the Jędrzej Śniadecki University School of Physical Educations and Sport in Gdańsk.

Kickboxing career

He trained kick boxing at Gdańsk club GKSK Corpus. Due to his similarity in appearance and fighting style he is sometimes called the Polish Remy Bonjasky. He has also been inspired by Gökhan Saki.

In 2009, in the Austrian city of Villach, he won the Kickboxing World Championships gold medal in K-1 Rules to 91 kg, defeating Vladimir Mineev.[1] In 2010, he became European champion in the same formula in Baku. He met the local Zamig Athakishiyev in the final.[2][3]

Professional boxing career

Early career

On 16 October 2010, he made his professional debut as a boxer in Legionowo, beating Igoris Papunia from Lithuania by first round knockout.[4] He fought his second professional fight on 20 November 2010, in a show in Nysa, during which he defeated Pavel Habra by technical KO in the first round. Ugonoh’s first fight of 2011 was against Rad Rashid on the 2 April. Ugonoh won the bout by unanimous decision over four rounds. Ugonoh went on to gain five stoppage wins by the end of 2012. He fought once in 2013, defeating Lukasz Rusiewicz by unanimous decision in a six round bout. Ugonoh also fought once in 2014 knocking out Junior Maletino Lakopo in two rounds.

Ugonoh next fought on the 5 March 2015, against Thomas Peato. Ugonoh won the bout by second round knockout. He went on to gain wins over Julius Long and Will Quarrie before facing Ibrahim Labaran for the interim WBA Oceania and WBO Africa heavyweight titles. Ugonoh won the fight by first round knockout. He also got a first round knockout win against Vicente Sandez in December 2015. Ugonoh’s first fight of 2016 was against Ricardo Humberto Ramirez, which he won by knockout in the fourth round. Ugonoh next fought on the 1 October, knocking out Gregory Tony in two rounds to pick up the vacant IBF Mediterranean heavyweight title.

Ugonoh vs Breazeale

On the 25 February 2017, Ugonoh faced former world title challenger Dominic Breazeale on the under card of Deontay Wilder vs Gerald Washington, in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. In a back and forth fight which saw both men hit the canvas, Breazeale came out on top after he dropped Ugonoh through the ropes in the fifth round. The fights' third round won the round of the year from The Ring Magazine.

Career from 2018

After losing to Breazeale in 2017, Ugonoh next returned to the ring on the 25 May 2018. Ugonoh face Fred Kassi in a ten round bout, winning the fight by stoppage after Kassi was retired on his stool at the end of the second round.

Professional boxing record

Professional record summary

20 fights	18 wins	2 losses
By knockout	15	2
By decision	3	0

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
20	Loss	18–2	Łukasz Różański	KO	4 (10), 2:27	6 Jul 2019	Stadion Miejski, Rzeszów, Poland
19	Win	18–1	Fred Kassi	RTD	2 (10), 3:00	25 May 2018	Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw, Poland
18	Loss	17–1	Dominic Breazeale	TKO	5 (10) , 0:50	25 Feb 2017	Legacy Arena, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
17	Win	17–0	Grégory Tony	TKO	2 (10) , 2:26	01 Oct 2016	Vodafone Events Centre, Auckland, New Zealand	Won vacant IBF Mediterranean heavyweight title
16	Win	16–0	Ricardo Humberto Ramírez	KO	4 (10), 1:47	21 Jul 2016	Horncastle Arena, Christchurch, New Zealand	Retained WBO Africa heavyweight title
15	Win	15–0	Vicente Sandez	KO	1 (10), 1:11	05 Dec 2015	Claudelands Arena, Hamilton, New Zealand	Retained interim WBO Africa heavyweight title
14	Win	14–0	Ibrahim Labaran	TKO	1 (10), 2:38	15 Oct 2015	Trusts Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand	Won interim WBA Oceania & WBO Africa heavyweight titles
13	Win	13–0	Will Quarrie	KO	2 (10), 2:14	01 Aug 2015	Stadium Southland, Invercargill, New Zealand
12	Win	12–0	Julius Long	UD	8	13 Jun 2015	Arena Manawatu, Palmerston North, New Zealand
11	Win	11–0	Thomas Peato	TKO	2 (6), 1:15	05 Mar 2015	Vodafone Events Centre, Auckland, New Zealand
10	Win	10–0	Junior Maletino Iakopo	TKO	2 (6), 1:04	16 Oct 2014	Trusts Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand
9	Win	9–0	Lukasz Rusiewicz	UD	6	23 Feb 2013	Ergo Arena, Gdańsk, Poland
8	Win	8–0	Mathieu Monnier	TKO	5 (6)	08 Dec 2012	Spodek, Katowice, Poland
7	Win	7–0	Björn Blaschke	TKO	6 (6), 1:05	17 Mar 2012	MOSiR Ice Rink, Krynica-Zdrój, Poland
6	Win	6–0	Florians Strupits	TKO	1 (6), 1:50	03 Dec 2011	Hilton Warsaw Hotel, Warsaw, Poland
5	Win	5–0	Fatih Ceyhan	RTD	3 (4), 3:00	12 Nov 2011	Gdynia Sports Arena, Gdynia, Poland
4	Win	4–0	Patrick Berger	TKO	2 (4), 2:08	15 Oct 2011	Spodek, Katowice, Poland
3	Win	3–0	Rashid Raad	UD	4	02 Apr 2011	Łuczniczka, Bydgoszcz, Poland
2	Win	2–0	Pavel Habr	TKO	1 (4), 2:47	20 Nov 2010	AZS PWSZ Nysa, Nysa, Poland
1	Win	1–0	Igor Papunia	KO	1 (4), 1:29	16 Oct 2010	Arena Legionowo, Legionowo, Poland	Professional debut

Mixed martial arts career

On July 11, 2020, news surfaced that Ugonoh transitioned from boxing to mixed martial arts and had signed a contract with Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki. He made his mixed martial arts debut at KSW 54 on August 29, 2020.[5] In his first fight he defeated Quentin Domingos.

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown
1 match	1 win	0 losses
By knockout	1	0

Res.	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
Win	1–0	Quentin Domingos	TKO (leg injury)	KSW 54: Gamrot vs. Ziółkowski	August 29, 2020	1	2:22	Warsaw, Poland

[6]

Personal life

Ugonoh also played a wrestling cameo in the Polish movie Afonia and the bees (2009) directed by Jan Jakub Kolski.

He calls himself a "black Pole" and says that he proudly represents Poland on the international arena. He often jokes that when he looks into a mirror, he "doesn't know what happened", referring to his skin color as atypical for ethnic Poles, a white ethnic group.[7]

His sister, Osuenhe "Osi" Ugonoh, works as a professional model, and is known for winning Poland's 4th edition of Top Model reality television series in 2014.[8]

See also

• List of current KSW fighters
• List of male mixed martial artists

References

1. "World Light Contact, Low Kick, K -1 Villach, Austria 19-26.10.2009 Rules". Polish Association of Kickboxing. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
2. "Bałanda and European champions Ugonoh". trojmiasto.pl. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
3. "Description of the championship fights Izu website GKSK Corpus". gkskcorpus.pl. Archived from the original on 20 June 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
4. "Impressive victory 'Izu' in debut". ringpolska.pl. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
5. Tudor Leonte (12 July 2020). "KSW Signs Former Pro Boxing Heavyweight Champion Izu Ugonoh". sherdog.com.
6. Sherdog.com. "IZUAGBE". Sherdog. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
7. "Ugonoh: Z dumą reprezentuję Polskę". sport.dziennik.pl. 24 March 2010.
8. "Osi Ugonoh wygrała 4. edycję "Top Model"!". Retrieved 3 June 2018.

External links

• Boxing record for Izu Ugonoh from BoxRec
• Izuagbe Ugonoh at Polish FilmWeb