Ahmad "Babyface" Kaddour (born January 1, 1982, Lebanon) is a professional boxer.

Ahmad Kaddour
Born
Ahmad Sam Kaddour

(1982-01-01) January 1, 1982 (age 42)
NationalityDenmark Danish
Other namesBabyface
Statistics
Weight(s)Middleweight
Height6ft (183cm)
Reach72 in (183 cm)
Boxing record
Total fights30
Wins27
Wins by KO10
Losses2
Draws1

Personal life

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Born in Tripoli, Lebanon, Kaddour's parents fled the 1982 Lebanon War and Ahmad grew up in Denmark where he got his start in boxing. He has moved back and forth between Europe and the United States since 2003.[1]

Professional boxing career

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The beginning

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After winning the Danish National Amateur Championship in 2000,[2] and his 2nd Nordic Amateur Championship (1999 and 2000),[3] and much international amateur experience (Dual in England,[4] Finland, Dual in Sweden,[5] Home dual v Sweden,[6] Germany), Kaddour turned pro. Kaddour started his career in Europe, fighting in Denmark, Wales, Hungary, Finland, Italy and Germany including a fight against Alessio Furlan at Braunschweig, Germany. The fight went the full distance with Kaddour winning narrowly on points to inflict Furlan with the first defeat of his professional career. Soon after Kaddour moved to the United States to further his career.[citation needed]

USA and The Contender Series

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In 2003–2004, Kaddour fought 4 out of 5 fights in the USA, the other in Germany, against opponents with winning records and won 3 of the 4 USA fights by stoppage, and was very confident at 18-0 when selected to participate on the reality TV show The Contender, broadcast worldwide, and was placed on the East Coast team. While on the team, he got involved in a feud with Ishe Smith[7] early on and they fought in the 3rd match. At the time Smith was world ranked by all 4 sanctioning organizations and held the USBA, the NABO, and the WBC Continental Americas titles. Kaddour gunned for an early KO but Smith weathered the storm and won by unanimous decision, calling it a "tough fight" afterwards. Kaddour was voted back[8] into the quarterfinals after Juan de la Rosa pulled out – a tactic by Jesse Brinkley, Anthony Bonsante, Peter Manfredo, and Joey Gilbert designed to get under Smith's skin. The week after Smith lost a split decision to eventual Contender and WBC champion Sergio Mora, Ahmad was matched with Alfonso Gomez (who went on after the show to challenge for the WBA 147 lb and WBC 154 lb titles) by the same boxers who brought Kaddour back, with the hope that the two tough fighters would battle hard and the winner would be less ready for the semi-finals. Kaddour lost by 1 round on 1 card and 3 rounds on the other 2 cards.[citation needed]

The first of the Contender contestants to fight again after the show's finale, Kaddour dominated through an 8-round unanimous decision against Maxell Taylor on July 22, 2005, on Showtime's Shobox.[9] Months later he fought Jesus Felipe Valverde to a draw due to a recurring stamina problem. Two of the judges scored the fight even and the third had Kaddour winning by two rounds. Two months after this, in November 2006, Ahmad had a rematch against Valverde, which he won by split decision on Versus. Valverde, who had gone the distance with future world titlists Carlos Quintana, Kermit Cintrón, and Yuri Foreman, as well as other top competition, was the busier fighter, but Kaddour was the more effective puncher.[citation needed]

Ahmad's fiancé on the Contender series was Brandy Collins, an American who sponsored him for a fiancé visa. They were married after the Contender and had a son in 2006. Brandy later told him to leave their home in Houston. According to BoxingScene.com and a Houston Tribune article, Ahmad entered the home (still registered in both their names) without her permission in June 2007 and was charged with burglary. He pleaded guilty to Class A Misdemeanor trespassing and was sentenced to 180 days in Harris County Jail in downtown Houston and Brandy withdrew her sponsorship of him with the INS, causing Kaddour to be transferred to immigration agents and deported to Denmark upon his release from federal custody in December 2007, and Collins obtained a divorce. Kaddour also reportedly had problems breathing through his nose and had surgery.[citation needed]

The Comeback

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After an almost 3-year hiatus from boxing working a steady job, Kaddour appeared on the undercard of Danish Super middleweight Mikkel Kessler's defense of the WBA title at the Messecenter Herning, Denmark, September 12, 2009, winning a unanimous decision over the tough German, Mike Ermis. He returned to the United States and beat Jerome Ellis by unanimous decision on March 26, 2010, then back to Denmark, where on February 11, 2011, he beat Lee Noble on Denmark's TV2 "Fight Night". Kaddour trained with Greg Coverson at the "Detroit Boxing Jungle" before scoring a 5th-round TKO over Vance Garvey at the Motor City Casino on October 6. His next 3 fights were for Sauerland Events[10] on Viasat's Nordic Fight Night series, with 2012 decisions over Britain's Gary Boulden and Max Maxwell and a September 2013 unanimous decision over Estonia's Aleksei Tsatiasvili.[citation needed]

Future Plans

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In August 2012 World Boxing News spoke with both Ishe Smith and Alfonso Gomez about possible rematches with Kaddour, giving him the opportunity to avenge his only 2 losses. Smith ruled a rematch out in the immediate future[11] as he was still trying to attain his first world title shot through Golden Boy Promotions (since won a majority decision over The Contender 2 bronze medalist Cornelius Bundrage for the IBF 154 lb title 2/23/13), but Gomez expressed interest and promised to "beat him worse this time".[12] February 2013, Kaddour stated he holds no ill will toward Smith from their Contender days despite the taunting that led to their old rivalry, but he still very much wants a rematch with Smith.[13] In August 2013, Smith said "Beating Ahmed was right up there" with his best fights before winning the IBF title.[14]

Professional boxing record

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27 Wins (10 knockouts, 16 decisions), 2 Losses ( 2 by decision), 1 Draw [15]
Res. Opponent Opp Rec Type Rd Date Location Notes
Win   Aleksei Tsatiasvili 4-4 UD 6 2013-09-7   Arena Nord, Frederikshavn, Denmark 59-55, 60-54, 58-56 video[16] on Viasat Nordic Fight Night
Win   Max Maxwell 16-11-3 UD 8 2012-09-22   Arean Nord, Frederikshavn, Denmark 77-75, 77-75, 77-75 on Viasat Nordic Fight Night
Win   Gary Boulden 6-3-2 MD 8 2012-06-02   Herning Kongrescenter, Herning, Denmark 79-73, 78-74, 76-76 on Viasat Nordic Fight Night
Win   Vance Garvey 8-34-6 TKO 5 (8) 2011-10-06   Motor City Casino, Detroit video[17] garvey down in 2nd, right eye closed
Win  Lee Noble 12-16-2 UD 6 2011-02-12   Herning Kongrescenter, Herning, Denmark 60-51, 60-54, 60-54 video[18] on TV 2 (Denmark)
Win  Jerome Ellis 12-10-2 UD 8 2010-03-27   Hamilton Manor, Hamilton Township, New Jersey 79-73, 79-73, 80-72 video[19]
Win   Cagri Ermis 6-7-2 UD 6 2009-09-12   Messecenter Herning, Herning, Denmark 60-54, 59-55, 58-57 video[20] after 2 year 10 month layoff
Win  Jesus Felipe Valverde 21-12-1 SD 8 2006-11-02   Chevrolet Centre, Youngstown, Ohio 77-75, 77-75, 75-77 on Versus
Draw  Jesus Felipe Valverde 21-12 Draw 8 2006-09-14   Orleans Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas 78-74, 76-76, 76-76
Win  Maxell Taylor 12-1 UD 8 2005-07-22   Chumash Casino, Santa Ynez, California 79-73, 78-74, 80-72 on Shobox
Loss   Alfonso Gomez 11-2-1 UD 5 2004-09-15   Pasadena, California video[21] on NBC's The Contender
Loss   Ishe Smith 14-0 UD 5 2004-08-24   Pasadena, California video [22] on NBC's The Contender
Win  Fontaine Cabell 22-4-1 TKO 1 (10) 2004-07-17   Baysox Stadium, Bowie, Maryland
Win  Juan Carlos Garcia 7-2 KO 4 (8) 2004-04-24   Staples Center, Los Angeles garcia down in 1 & 4, stopped before start of 5th
Win  Lorant Szabo 20-14 UD 6 2003-12-20   Ostseehalle, Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany video[23]
Win  Leo Edwards 14-12-2 KO 1 (8) 2003-10-23   Princess Chateau, Lodi, New Jersey video[24] on CSI Sports
Win  Wilmer Mejia 13-3-2 MD 8 2003-09-25   Michael's Eighth Avenue, Glen Burnie, Maryland 77-74, 77-75, 76-76 video[25] on Fight Network
Win  Alban Mothie 9-7-1 MD 6 2002-11-16   Baltic Hall, Mariehamn, Finland 59-56, 58-58, 60-55
Win  Louis Mimoune 14-16 TKO 3 (6) 2002-06-15   Gubbio, Umbria, Italy
Win  Cyril Terrones 21-14-1 UD 6 2002-04-06   Circus Building, Copenhagen, Denmark 58-55, 59-55, 59-54
Win  Francesco Cioffi 9-23-8 KO 2 (6) 2002-02-23   Skive Hallerne, Skive, Denmark
Win  Alessio Furlan 3-0-2 UD 6 2002-02-08   Volkswagen Halle, Braunschweig, Niedersachsen, Germany video[26]
Win  Rachid Ouafi 3-0 KO 2 (6) 2001-11-24   Vejen Idraetscenter, Vejen, Denmark
Win  Michel Ventura 5-6-1 KO 6 2001-11-03   Hansehalle, Lübeck, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Win  Hamit Riahi 8-21-1 TKO 1 2001-10-07   Universum Gym, Wandsbek, Hamburg, Germany
Win  Florin Oanea 4-11-3 UD 6 2001-06-08   Imperial Gym, Budapest, Hungary
Win  David White 0-4-1 UD 4 2001-04-28   International Arena, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom ref scores 39-36
Win  Antonio Postigo 2-7-1 UD 4 2001-02-04   Alsterdorfer Sporthalle, Hamburg, Germany
Win  Abdelilah Benabbou 0-0-1 KO 1 2001-02-10   Estrel Convention Center, Neukölln, Berlin, Germany
Win  Attila Kiss 0-2 UD 4 2000-010-07   Estrel Convention Center, Neukölln, Berlin, Germany Ahmad's professional debut.

References

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  1. ^ "World Boxing News: Ahmed 'Babyface' Kaddour eyeing world title in 2013". Archived from the original on 2012-10-28. Retrieved 2012-10-27.
  2. ^ "scroll through Danish Champions" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-08-14. Retrieved 2012-10-19.
  3. ^ scroll through Nordic Champions at bottom page Archived 2012-08-14 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ england v denmark tourney
  5. ^ duals in sweden
  6. ^ Sweden duals in Denmark
  7. ^ episode with ahmed-ishe feud and fight
  8. ^ video of ahmad voted back
  9. ^ video highlights of taylor, garcia, cabell, and mejia fights
  10. ^ kaddour at sauerland events
  11. ^ kaddour smith story Archived 2013-08-18 at archive.today
  12. ^ kaddour gomez story
  13. ^ kaddour in London's Trafalgar square talking about Smith rivalry
  14. ^ smith interview Archived 2013-08-11 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ Ahmad Kaddour's Professional Boxing Record – BoxRec.com
  16. ^ video of Tsatiasvili fight
  17. ^ video of vance garvey fight
  18. ^ video of lee noble fight
  19. ^ video of jerome ellis fight
  20. ^ video of ermis fight
  21. ^ unedited video gomez fight
  22. ^ video smith fight
  23. ^ video of szabo fight
  24. ^ video of edwards fight
  25. ^ video of mejia fight
  26. ^ Video of Furlan fight
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