ASTANA – Kazakh boxer and Olympic champion Daniyar Yeleussinov recently announced that he is turning professional and is expected to sign a contract with the British promoter Eddie Hearn.
Daniyar Yeleussinov and Eddie Hearn. Photo credit: sports.kz
Yeleussinov won the Olympic champion title in the up to 69 kg weight category in Rio in 2016. After that, the 2013 world amateur champion and two-time winner of the Asian Games thought a lot about whether to stay amateur or turn professional.
Yeleussinov eventually decided to sign a contract with Eddie Hearn, the head of the British promotion company Matchroom Boxing. Boxers who currently work with Hearn include four world champions, such as super heavyweight Anthony Joshua (WBA Super, IBF and IBO), world bantamweight champions Ryan Burnett (WBA Super and IBF), Jamie McDonnell (WBA) and the holder of the WBA super-flyweight title Khalid Yafai. Hearn also works with world stars such as Kell Brook and Amir Khan.
Yeleussinov’s first fight in professional boxing will be April 28 on the undercard of the fight of Kazakh superstar Gennady Golovkin’s former opponent, Daniel Jacobs, in New York. The next fight is scheduled for June 2 in London on the undercard of the fight of Anthony Joshua.
“I like the vision of my career development with many fights. I should go on and show and prove myself in professional boxing. I’m going professional with confidence in myself, with the hope of becoming a many-time world champion. We agreed on my departure from the team with the head coach, the management was notified. My contract is signed for three years, and I plan to fight in the 66-kilogramme category,” said Yeleussinov.
Yeleussinov plans to have on average three or four fights a year. If it works out, then in two or three years, Daniyar will be able to claim the championship belt.
“I’m glad that we will work with Daniyar. We have the world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in our team, and we believe that Daniyar can do the same. He is a great and talented boxer, and our task is to make him known all over the world,” said Hearn.
