SUPER-FLYWEIGHT Ijaz โJazzyโ Ahmed spent most of last year chasing Quaise Khademi inside boxing rings, with the pair sharing 10 rounds in February and 12 in August.
Both times Ahmed harassed the favourite, making him work hard every round, and both times Ahmed believed he got the better of things, even if only one of the fights โ the first โ delivered him victory.
The second, a bone of contention for Ahmed, ended in a 12-round draw, which meant that not only the British super-flyweight title remained vacant but Ahmed had to again chase Khademi in 2022. They have unfinished business, after all, and Ahmed, though boxing again this Sunday (March 27) in Walsall, is growing impatient.
โWhatโs frustrating is not being able to fight for that British title again because heโs (Khademi) apparently injured, or still not 100 per cent recovered,โ Ahmed told Boxing News. โHe wants a tune-up fight before we fight again. Itโs inevitable that it will happen again but I want it to be sooner rather than later.
โObviously the first time I beat him, but even the second time I was 100 per cent certain I beat him. They gave him a draw in that one and robbed me of the chance of becoming British champion โ for now anyway.
โWe have to go there again and we donโt really need to, because Iโve already beaten him twice. But, at the end of the day, it wasnโt written for me to become British champion at that time and Godโs got a different plan for me.โ
The first time Ahmed and Khademi met the fight was seen as almost a foregone conclusion ahead of the first bell. Khademi, the โhomeโ fighter, was unbeaten in eight pro fights, tipped for big things, and his story โ born in Kabul, Afghanistan before later moving to East Ham, London โ was a compelling one that gained him plenty of attention going into a fight all of a sudden headlining a BT Sport-televised card at the Copperbox (following the withdrawal of the original main event).
Birminghamโs Ahmed, on the other hand, was mostly ignored. In fact, it could be argued the 28-year-old was only really acknowledged when, having set the tempo of the fight, he came away with a majority decision victory at its conclusion.
โIt was a massive step up for me,โ Ahmed said. โI shot straight into the main event slot and was really up for it. I was there to do my job, which is what I did.
โGoing into the fight, they just thought I was going to be a walkover. They thought I would show up and their lad would pick me off and deal with me. But they didnโt know who Ijaz Ahmed was before I busted their boy up.โ
In many respects the perfect marriage, at least in terms of styles, Ahmed and Khademi reconvened six months later in Birmingham, this time with the vacant British super-flyweight title on the line. It was a fight every bit as thrilling and close as their previous one, only this time Ahmed was held to a draw.
โEverybody who knows anything about boxing knows I beat him in that second fight,โ he said. โBut you get these horrible decisions in boxing sometimes, as we saw with Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall. That was a horrible decision as well. Catterall beat him easily but they gave it to Taylor.โ
Accepting they are evenly matched, and that three outsiders will ultimately determine their fate, Ahmed knows he will have to reassess his approach ahead of any third encounter with Khademi. He has taken heart from the fact he clearly gives Khademi problems but knows next time he must do even more to secure the win.
โStyles make fights and I am his kryptonite,โ he said. โHe just canโt get around me. Iโm on him all the time and he doesnโt like it. I donโt give him any time or space to do what he normally does. I did that in the first fight and I did that again in the rematch.
โThis time I will have to take matters into my own hands and take it out of the judgesโ hands. I will have to stop the fight going to a decision and I believe I can do that. Iโm working on things in the gym all the time, and hopefully we can get that stoppage.
โIโve definitely hurt him in our previous fights, but I just didnโt have the experience I needed back then. I didnโt even realise he was as hurt as he was at times and only realised this when watching it back later. Obviously, because I didnโt realise he was hurt when I was in there, I didnโt capitalise on it at the time. But that wonโt happen again. Now I have watched it over, and now I have seen that he was hurt and know he can be hurt again, weโre going to capitalise on it next time and hopefully get him out of there.โ
Should this happen, Ahmed, 9-2-1 (1), will have finally settled his rivalry with Khademi and granted himself permission to move on. He will have also put a smile on the face of his father. โAfter Ramadan [in April], weโre looking at June or July time [for the fight to take place],โ he said. โIf itโs in Birmingham again, that would be great, but I donโt mind where it takes place. I just want to go there, do the business, and bring that title home. The British belt is a prestigious belt and a belt every fighter from Britain wants on their resumรฉ. Itโs what Iโm striving for. Itโs one of my fatherโs dreams for me to become the British champion and prove Iโm the best in my country.โ