The unification lightweight title contest between American Diego Corrales and Mexican Jose Luis Castillo in Las Vegas on May 7, 2005, is forever etched in the memory of Ahmed Seddiqi.
Corrales, the WBO title holder, won despite being floored twice by WBC champion Castillo to take the contest by TKO in the 10th round in what was widely regarded as the fight of the year.
Watching the epic fight from ringside, Seddiqi was in awe and it turned out to be a life-changing experience for him.
He founded the first specialised boxing gym in Dubai, and aptly named it the Round 10 Boxing Gym. He then pioneered professional boxing in the region as a promoter.
“Watching that fight, I fell in love with the sport,” Seddiqi said in an exclusive interview with The National.
It’s been 10 years since Seddiqi founded the gym and to mark the occasion, he has painstakingly planned the Rising Stars Arabia, the first of an exciting series in collaboration with the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi.
The seven-fight card at the Mubadala Arena at Zayed Sports City on September 9 is the first of its kind and pits Arab fighters from the region against opponents from other nations.
“This is not about Arabs fighting Arabs, but Arabs fighting non-Arabs,” Seddiqi said of the Rising Stars Arabia series. “There’s no platform for the Arab fighters and this provides them with the opportunity. This for the rising stars of the region, basically a platform for the Gulf nations, Middle East and Africa.
“This event is a milestone for professional boxing. The objective is to scout for talent and bring out an Arab world champion from the region.”
Seddiqi has staged, organised and conducted many boxing events, including a few world title fights in and out of the UAE, but started the Rising Stars Arabia to launch a new format.
“I pioneered the sport at the professional level in the region. I opened the Round 10 Boxing Club as the first boxing gym in the UAE in September 2013 and I’m quite proud we are now celebrating 10 years,” he said.
“For me, I pioneered the sport and started a home for boxing when there was no specialised boxing gym in the whole region. Now I want to show the outside world what I have done.
“At one time, nobody believed in what I wanted to do because there was no specialised boxing gym in the country and boxing wasn’t in the culture in this part of the world. Now I see around 15 specialised boxing gyms in the country. That’s encouraging for me.
“The promotion side came to me later and now I manage 20 fighters from around the world and promote events."
The event has the potential to draw massive viewership from the region and around the world. It will be broadcast in the Middle East, US and Europe on major online platforms and on ESPN in Latin America, Africa and Australia.
Seddiqi is from a firmly established Emirati business family and is well connected with the professional boxing world. He manages 20 boxers, including two Emiratis: Sultan Al Nuaimi and Fahad Al Blooshi.
“I worked in the family business but left that six years ago to pursue boxing full-time, as a promoter, managing boxers and the gym. I chose to go with my passion and build a legacy of my own, and that’s professional boxing," he said.
“I have a mixed bag of Olympians, national champions and amateur world and regional champions.”
