Kid Galahad (boxer)


Abdul-Bari Awad, best known by his nickname of "Kid Galahad", is a British professional boxer who held the European, British, and Commonwealth super-bantamweight titles between 2013 and 2015. His ring name was chosen by trainer Brendan Ingle after a character played by Elvis Presley in the 1962 film of the same name. From 2014 to 2016, Galahad served a ban from boxing due to doping.

Early life

Galahad was born in the Qatar capital of Doha but is originally from Yemen. His father was in the Qatar Armed Forces and was released as part of an agreement with the Americans after the conclusion of the Gulf War. At the age of 4, Galahad came to England with his parents and eventually ended up in Sheffield. At the age of thirteen he took up boxing with trainer Brendan Ingle.

Professional career

Galahad decided to take up boxing to keep him off the streets so he didn't follow his siblings and end up in jail and being involved in gang violence. After he started going to his local gym to get bigger he noticed a boxing ring, after shadow boxing for a few minutes he decided he wanted to be a boxer. After a chance meeting with his hero Prince Naseem Hamed he was told by Naseem that if he wanted to be great in boxing and wanted to be a champion he should train at the Brendan Ingle gym, so after driving around for an hour Galahad and his mother found the gym.
Galahad made his professional debut on 5 September 2009 at the Colosseum in Watford England in which he defeated Delroy Spencer on Points.
Galahad's Second Professional fight took place on 3 October 2009 at the Leisure Centre in Altrincham England where he defeated Pavels Senkovs on Points after 4 rounds.
He then scored his first stoppage Victory on 21 May 2010 defeating Dougie Curran by TKO in the second round.
Galahad raked up a record of 10–0 before defeating Jason Booth by Unanimous Decision on 18 February 2012 to earn his first title the WBC International Super-Bantamweight Championship
Galahad defended his championship once against Josh Wale by TKO afterwards he vacated the title.
Galahad scored two more wins, defeating Ivan Ruiz Morote and Isaac Nettey both by TKO to earn a shot at the BBBofC British title which he won by defeating James Dickens by TKO, he would later vacate the title.
On 22 March 2014, Galahad won the European Super-Bantamweight championship with a unanimous twelve round decision over Sergio Prado.
On 10 May 2014, Galahad won the vacant Commonwealth Super Bantamweight Championship by beating Fred Mundraby by TKO after round 4.
Galahad faced Adeilson Dos Santos on 20 September 2014 at the Ponds Forge Arena for the vacant IBF World Youth Super-Bantamweight Championship. Gallahad controlled the fight, out boxing Dos Santos with fast jabs, hooks and combinations sending Dos Santos to the canvas in the first round and tenth round. Gallahad won the fight by unanimous decision.
In October 2014 Galahad vacated the European title to pursue a World title.
In May 2015, Galahad was banned for 2 years following a failed drugs test. He tested positive for banned substance stanozolol, an anabolic steroid. He maintains his innocence saying his brother put the steroids in his protein shake after Galahad refused to give him money, and appealed against a ban, but it was rejected by UKAD and the ban upheld, backdated to run from 20 September 2014.
Galahad made his return to boxing on 30 April 2016 with a 4th round TKO win over Simas Volosinas at the DW Stadium in Wigan, England. This was Galahad’s first non championship fight since 2013.
Galahad won his first title since his return on 15 July 2017 winning the vacant IBF Inter-Continental featherweight title.
On Saturday 15 June, 2019 Galahad narrowly lost a split decision to Josh Warrington fighting for the IBF Featherweight Title in what many commentators saw as a difficult contest to score. Judge Howard Foster's card was 115-113 in favour of Galahad, Steve Gray was 116-112 for Warrington and Michael Alexander was 116-113 for Warrington. Writing in , Tom Seymour noted that "the fight was perilously close... Kid Galahad has a right to feel he was robbed of the chance to be the IBF's undisputed champion".

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
28Win27–1 Claudio MarreroRTD8, 3:008 Feb 2020FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield, England.png" />
27Loss26–1 Josh WarringtonSD1215 Jun 2019 First Direct Arena, Leeds, EnglandFor IBF featherweight title
26Win26–0 Brayan MairenaPTS88 Dec 2018 FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield, England
25Win25–0 Toka Kahn ClaryUD1220 Oct 2018 TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, US
24Win24–0 Irving BerryKO3, 2:203 Mar 2018 FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield, England
23Win23–0 Jose CayetanoTKO10, 2:1415 Jul 2017 The SSE Arena Wembley, London, EnglandWon vacant IBF Inter-Continental featherweight title
22Win22–0 Leonel HernandezRTD3, 3:004 Feb 2017 London Olympia, London, England
21Win21–0 Reynaldo MoraTKO3, 2:2126 Nov 2016 Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales
20Win20–0 Emiliano SalviniTKO4, 0:3810 Sep 2016 The O2 Arena, London, England
19Win19–0 Simas VolosinasTKO4, 2:0630 Apr 2016 DW Stadium, Wigan, England
18Win18–0 Adeilson Dos SantosUD1220 Sep 2014 Ponds Forge, Sheffield, EnglandWon vacant IBF Youth super-bantamweight title
17Win17–0 Fred Mundraby4, 3:0010 May 2014 Ponds Forge, Sheffield, EnglandWon vacant Commonwealth super-bantamweight title
16Win16–0 Sergio PradoUD1222 Mar 2014 Ponds Forge, Sheffield, EnglandWon vacant European super-bantamweight title
15Win15–0 Jazza DickensTKO10, 1:3414 Sep 2013 Magna Science Adventure Centre, Rotherham, EnglandWon vacant British super-bantamweight title
14Win14–0 Isaac NetteyTKO5, 2:358 Jun 2013 Bluewater, Stone, England
13Win13–0 Ivan Ruiz MoroteTKO4, 2:508 Dec 2012 Sports Arena, Hull, England
12Win12–0 Josh WaleTKO9, 3:0012 May 2012 Hillsborough Leisure Centre, Sheffield, EnglandRetained WBC International super-bantamweight title
11Win11–0 Jason Booth1218 Feb 2012 Magna Science Adventure Centre, Rotherham, EnglandWon vacant WBC International super-bantamweight title
10Win10–0 James AncliffTKO4, 2:588 Oct 2011 Ponds Forge, Sheffield, England
9Win9–0 Paul GriffinTKO1, 1:3117 Sep 2011 Kings Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland
8Win8–0 Pavels SenkovsPTS623 Jul 2011 Wembley Arena, London, England
7Win7–0 Sid RazakPTS430 Apr 2011 Don Valley Stadium, Sheffield, England
6Win6–0 Dai DaviesPTS416 Apr 2011 MEN Arena, Manchester, England
5Win5–0 John Riley1, 2:5326 Nov 2010 Reebok Stadium, Bolton, England
4Win4–0 Ian BaileyPTS625 Sep 2010 Robin Park Arena, Wigan, England
3Win3–0 Dougie Curran2, 2:5321 May 2010 Ponds Forge, Sheffield, England
2Win2–0 Pavels SenkovsPTS43 Oct 2009 Leisure Centre, Altrincham, England
1Win1–0 Delroy Spencer45 Sep 2009 Colosseum, Watford, England