The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar - Qatar’s only pro boxer Fahad Al Thani on Friday night demolished Romanian opponent Marius Racaru forcing the latter into an early retirement.
The 31-year-old clinched the issue in their super welterweight clash in the northwest Spanish city of Valladolid.
It was the 10th successive win for the Qatari boxer who aims to power a boxing revolution in the country.
“It is the second time I was boxing him,” a delighted Fahad said from Spain where the fight was held at Cupula Del Milenio.
“He is a tricky southpaw with a sharp left hand. But I tactically managed to defend and make adjustments to have him stopped, forcing him to retire in the second round,” Fahad added.
Fahad beat the Romanian in their previous fight in March 2017 in Barcelona, Spain.
In his 10 fights, Fahad has been in the ring for just 21 rounds, completing eight of his wins with TKOs.
Fahad, who had trained non-stop for the last three months, building momentum with reclusive training since the middle of February, said he should have spent more hours in the ring
“My training was good but not smooth,” Fahad said.
“I tried to constantly be out of my comfort zone and push my boxing levels. However, my trainer’s concentration was on my skill set and improving it which I did,” he said.
Fahad said his next fight is not confirmed yet but the Qatari boxer last month told The Peninsula that he would be aiming for six fights this year.
“The number of fights is about six fights. Not more than that. Six fights is a good number. It is a high number,” Fahad told The Peninsula last month.
“Still I am not on TV so I can go up to eight. Once you are a TV fighter, it changes everything, like what time I walk into the ring. Now I want to build on my experience, improving my skills, doing what I do in the gym and adding things to my arsenal. If you don’t train for it, you can’t do it,” he added in the exclusive interview.
Fahad last month said getting popular in Qatar gave him a sense of satisfaction.
“The recognition in Qatar is very positive. It is something that gives me hope and pride. It shows a sportsman from Qatar can be on the world stage,” Fahad said before praising compatriots track and field star Mutaza Barshim and rallying icon Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah.
“We saw that with Mutaz Barshim. We saw that with Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah recently in their sports. I look up to them and I see myself following in the same paths or footsteps,” Fahad said.
“So that gives me sometimes the motivation to keep going. Sometimes I receive a message on social media, saying ‘Fahad, I want to be a boxer’ and that adds to my will to win. I now not only fight for myself, I fight for Qatar. I fight for amazing development for Qatar sports. I love the way how Aspire Academy teach young athletes how to go about their life, how to eat, how to rest, how to deal with nerves. We had to do it the hard way,” he said.
Fahad, who trains and fights on his own, said he has specific goals in mind.
“I have a long-term goal. It’s to be a champion at a world level. I want to have a world level belt,” Fahad said.