Ismail Sillah: career and biography

Ismail Sillah, whose biography is described in this article, is a Ukrainian boxer. Silver medalist of the World and European Championship in 2005 and 2006. This is one of the most gifted representatives of boxing. Participates in competitions in light heavyweight. Pretended for the title of World Champion for WBO. He took patronage over the Mariupol children's home.

A family

Ismail Sillah was born on February 9, 1985 in Ukraine, in Zaporozhye, in a student family. His mother is Ukrainian, she studied at the University of Medicine. Father is an African from Sierra Leone. At that time he came to the USSR to receive an education. Mother and father of Ismail were married, but did not live long in marriage.

They engaged in commerce: they bought things that were scarce at that time (jeans, electronics, etc.) and resold them. The goods were brought by the head of the family. Having left for the UK once again, he never returned.

Ismail has two brothers - the elder and the younger. First, the father supported the former wife and children with money, and then disappeared altogether. As it turned out later, he started a new family in the UK. When Ismail was 7 years old, he moved with his mother and brothers to Mariupol, where his grandparents lived (on his mother's side).

How it all began

He became interested in boxing from the age of six when the first time he and his older brother watched one of the fights. When the family moved to Mariupol, my grandmother took her grandchildren to the sea. On the way they met the building of the sports complex. The sea for children immediately lost its appeal. Grandma understood this and took them to the sports complex.

There they for the first time met their future coach Klenin V.V. He liked the boys, he invited them to practice. Grandmother tried to dissuade grandchildren from boxing. I offered to go to gymnastics. But the guys have already chosen their way in sports.

Training helped Ismail in school. Because of the unusual color of his skin, he was often teased and bullied by peers. But thanks to sports, Ismayil Sillah quickly gained a good physical form and was able to rebuff, after which the attacks on him ceased.

Education

Ismail graduated from elementary middle school. Then he entered the Donetsk National University at the Faculty of Economics. I studied for a marketer. But I did not want to make a career in this field, choosing sport for myself.

Amateur career

In 2002, Ismayil Sillah was able to win a silver medal at the European Championships in the category of 15 to 16 years (juniors). And a year later he brought back two "gold" from the cadet European Championship and World Cup. From 2002 to 2003 Ismail took part in junior fights twice, but both times lost in the quarterfinals.

He became the Champion of Ukraine only in 2004, when he turned 19 years old. In the weight category up to 75 kg Ismail was able to defeat V. Pyatetskiy at the very beginning of the fight. Since 2005, earned "silver" and firmly entrenched in the adult Ukrainian team.

The athlete very quickly became a leader, began a series of his victories. One of the largest - "silver" in 2006 at the European Boxing Championships in Plovdiv. In 2008, from the second time I was able to win a ticket to the Olympic Games. For the first time he lost to American C. Downs. But the second time he won, winning the qualifying Istanbul tournament.

The amateur career of Ismail Sillah consists of 318 duels. In the vast majority (302) of battles he won. I could not leave the prize-winner only 16 times. Among the rivals with which the battles were fought, there were many well-known boxers: Chudinov, Bursak, Beterbiev and others.

Discrimination

After receiving a ticket to the Olympic Games, Ismayil Sillah was on par with the applicants for "gold", but did not pass the doping test and was disqualified for two years. AIBA stripped him and his license. Sam Ismail said in an interview that he did not accept illegal drugs. The commission hinted at a certain amount, but he refused to pay it. And as a result, he was framed during the doping test.

Professional career

Wait for the end of the period of disqualification, Sillah did not, and moved to professional boxing in 2008, signing a contract with I. Gottsev. The first fight in this category took place in July of the same year in Los Angeles. Ismail sent the challenger M. Helvorsen to a knockout in the 1st round.

He trained under the leadership of the famous S. Suluki. Ismayil Sillah, whose fights really began to impress, moved to a high pace. Only for the first half of the year he created a track record with 11 victorious fights. Although there were no known fighters in it yet.

Soon the talent of Ismail was revealed in full force. In April 2010, he was able to knock out American D. Judah and was awarded the title of North American Champion by the NABF version. In 2012 and 2013 years. He defeated the Russians D. Grachov and K. Piternov.