Frank Warren boasts the most significant heavyweight stable in boxing. He now has a new prospect to get behind – one he believes could be the man to set a world record.
Warren was thrilled to sign Ireland’s Adam Olaniyan, a seven-time national amateur champion who had been poised to compete at the 2028 Olympic Games but instead opted to switch to the pro scene.
His father, George Olaniyan, boxed in the Nigerian army before moving to Ireland, where Dublin-born Adam Olaniyan made a name for himself in the amateur circuit, securing back-to-back European Championships and gold at the 2024 U19 World Championships.
On Saturday night, on the Jazza Dickens vs Anthony Cacace undercard, Olaniyan made his professional debut, requiring less than one minute to dispatch of Czech Republic’s Jan Bezouska and cause heads in the heavyweight division to turn.
Speaking with iFL TV, Warren said that his goal is to get Olaniyan to become the first heavyweight world champion in the history of Irish boxing.
“It was his first fight and he did deliver, he done what he had to do. The opponents, every time he fights, will be better and better and that is what will happen with him. He is on this journey now to be the first Irish heavyweight world champion.
“That is what we are looking to do and to facilitate, to make that happen. He is an exciting addition to the heavyweight scene, that is for sure.”
To date, two Irishmen have competed for the recognised and coveted heavyweight crown, but none for well over a century, with Tom Sharkey losing after going the full 25-round distance with James J Jeffries in 1899 and Jim Roche losing via first-round KO to Tommy Burns in 1908.
