Zhanat Zhakiyanov

Zhanat Eskendiruly Zhakiyanov, known as “ZZ”, is a retired Kazakh bantamweight who held the WBA and IBO world championships in 2017. Born on November 4, 1983, in Blagoveshchenka, Kazakhstan, and associated throughout his career with Petropavl, he boxed professionally from August 2007 until October 2017. His final record was 27 wins, two defeats and no draws, with eighteen victories inside the distance. Neither defeat came by stoppage. An orthodox boxer standing 5ft 7in, Zhakiyanov built his success around sustained pressure, physical strength and a willingness to maintain his attack after difficult starts. Contrary to the supplied active designation, he announced his retirement in February 2018.

Zhakiyanov practised wrestling as a child before taking up boxing at sixteen after moving to Petropavl. His development took place outside the international spotlight enjoyed by Kazakhstan’s leading amateurs. He did not represent his country at an Olympic Games or senior World Championships, although he later said he had contested more than a hundred amateur bouts, including international tournaments. His early boxing education involved coaches Vladimir Chernyshkov and Alexander Lebedev. Alongside training, he worked unloading railway wagons and subsequently as a security guard while studying. These were practical circumstances of his early career, rather than evidence of an established national-team pathway into professional boxing.

His professional debut came on August 3, 2007, in Shymkent, where he defeated Nabi Kadirov by unanimous decision over four rounds. The early programme consisted largely of short contests in Kazakhstan, followed by appearances in neighbouring countries. His first defeat came against unbeaten Sakhib Usarov in Ramenskoye, Russia, on October 4, 2008, when he lost a six-round unanimous decision. Zhakiyanov then began a winning sequence that would extend through twenty-two fights. He accumulated experience in varied settings, including the circus arena in Almaty, and travelled increasingly widely as his opposition improved. A ten-round decision over Bahyt Abdurahimov in Tashkent in December 2010 brought the WBC Asian Boxing Council Continental bantamweight title.

The next stage took him into European competition. He stopped Benjamin Pitteloud in Switzerland in May 2011 and later appeared in Britain, Belarus and Hong Kong. Working with Ricky Hatton and Mike Jackson in the Manchester area helped establish the professional structure behind his championship campaign. His most important breakthrough before world level came against European champion Karim Guerfi at Sheffield’s Ponds Forge Arena on April 26, 2014. Guerfi had enjoyed the better early boxing, but Zhakiyanov’s right hand changed the contest. A fifth-round knockout secured the European bantamweight championship and demonstrated the danger of allowing him to remain within punching distance despite an early points advantage.

Zhakiyanov continued advancing through regional and international titles. He stopped Gagi Edisherashvili in the first round in Minsk in September 2014, then defeated Roberto Lerio in Australia. Against Héctor Guzmán in Bulgaria in May 2015, he recovered from a second-round knockdown to win by knockout in the sixth and take the WBA International championship. His twelve-fight stoppage sequence ended when he challenged Yonfrez Parejo for the WBA interim title at the Salle des Étoiles in Monte Carlo on November 7, 2015. The Venezuelan took him through twelve rounds, but Zhakiyanov won a split decision. Giuseppe Quartarone scored 116–113 and Stanley Christodoulou 115–113 for the challenger, while Levi Martinez favoured Parejo 116–112.

The principal achievement of his career followed against Rau’shee Warren at the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio, on February 10, 2017. Returning after fifteen months without a contest and making his American debut, Zhakiyanov was knocked down twice in the opening round, first by a left uppercut and then by a right hook. He survived and progressively forced Warren into a more demanding fight. Hatton’s instructions helped him establish himself inside, where his volume and persistence reduced the American southpaw’s effectiveness. In the third, Warren went to the canvas after right hands, but referee Gary Rosato ruled a push rather than a knockdown. Zhakiyanov continued working through the second half and won the WBA and IBO championships by split decision. Brian Kennedy scored 116–110 and John Stewart 115–111 for him; Larry Hazzard Jr scored 115–111 for Warren.

His first WBA defence became a unification contest against IBF champion Ryan Burnett at Belfast’s SSE Arena on October 21, 2017. The opponents had previously trained together in Hatton’s gym, although Burnett was now coached by Adam Booth. Zhakiyanov pressed forward and made much of the contest a close-range struggle, but Burnett delivered the cleaner combinations and established greater control over the closing rounds. The unanimous scores were 119–109, 118–110 and 116–112 for Burnett. Zhakiyanov’s effort made the contest more competitive than the widest cards indicated, but his pressure could not consistently overcome the younger man’s accuracy. It was his final professional appearance. His strengths remained evident, particularly his endurance and determination, while the contest also exposed the limitations of an attack that could become crowded and allow an opponent to tie up his arms.

Zhakiyanov confirmed his retirement in February 2018, aged 34. In a subsequent interview, he said several reasons lay behind the decision but declined to disclose them, explicitly stating that injuries were not responsible. He remained in boxing through coaching at the Kamil Safin regional youth boxing school in Petropavl, work he had already undertaken while competing. His family life was also based in the city, where contemporary reports recorded that he lived with his wife and their son and daughter. His career followed a gradual progression from small regional programmes to European competition and world championship boxing. The Warren victory stands as its defining result, earned through recovery from two early knockdowns and sustained work over twelve rounds.