Bakhodir Jalolov Wants Big Fights Now, But Won’t Rush His Progression

Bakhodir Jalolov is the fearsome Olympic super heavyweight gold medallist with a frightening 100% KO ratio in the pros.

The man known as the ‘Big Uzbek’ has only had 11 fights but is already being avoided by more experienced opponents in the weight class.

Promoter Lou DiBella describes the 28-year-old as a “bad man” while former victim, the experienced Kamil Sokolowski said Jalolov was the “biggest puncher I’ve faced”.

Jalolov recently moved to No 20 in the WBC’s world rankings and aims to claw his way up the rankings to secure a world title shot. 

“I am ready now for world title shots, of course my team has certain plans for me, I will follow their plan,” Jalolov said.

“Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk are great boxers, they have proven that they are the best in the division right now, and I hope they will still be champions by the time I progress towards the top, they have the skills to keep the titles.”

Jalolov’s amateur career peaked by winning the gold medal in Tokyo last summer but the Uzbek puncher was also the World Amateur Championships winner in 2019.

“I was much younger, pro boxing is a little bit of a different sport, it would be great to test my skills with the guys at this level in the pros.”

The southpaw faced many of the best boxers of his generation in the amateur code and would relish the chance to avenge defeats he experienced at the hands of Joe Joyce and Ivan Dychko.

Both men are unbeaten as professionals and Dychko recently told Probellum.com that meeting Jalolov in the paid ranks – after four contests as amateurs – is a “fight the fans would like to see.”