Scotstoun boxer Ahmed Ibrahim celebrated the biggest night of his career on Saturday after he was crowned the BBBofC Scottish super-lightweight champion following a tough points win over Martin Taylor at the Lagoon Centre in Paisley.
On a historic night for Scottish boxing in which Hannan Rankin became the country’s first female world champion, Ibrahim’s undercard bout with Livingston fighter Taylor was deemed fight of the night by ringside pundits as he lifted the first title of his professional career.
Taylor, previously unbeaten with six wins from six outings, proved to be a stern test for the ‘Black Assassin’ who had to be at his very best throughout to come away with a well-deserved 97-94 win live on BBC Scotland.
READ MORE: Ahmed Ibrahim wants Scottish title to be the first of many
Going the championship distance for the first time in his professional career, Ibrahim admitted the demanding bout was even harder than he thought it would be but is thankful to have had that experience and come away from it with some silverware.
He said: “It was an unreal feeling. It was a really hard fight - even harder than I thought it would be to be honest. He wanted it as much as me so I was delighted to get the decision in the end.
“I’ve never boxed 10 rounds before so it was good to get that experience under my belt - especially against a tough guy like Martin.
“It was easily the best performance and the best night of my career so it’s the highlight so far. The fans were incredible all the way through too which made it even better.
“I can’t stop looking at the belt. It’s years and years of hard work rewarded which is an amazing feeling. I went to bed with the belt on Saturday night, I didn’t want to let it go.
“It was an amazing night for Scottish boxing in general with Hannah making history with the world title. I’m happy to play my own part in a night like that with my own title. What a night it was. Hannah was incredible so it was great to fight on that undercard.
“My support was incredible too so I need to thank them. I had a lot of friends and family there with some even travelling up from down south. Even Hannah’s fans were behind me so it was a great atmosphere to fight in.”
After winning the first title of his career, the 27-year-old wasted no time in setting his sights on adding even more.
Ibrahim told Post Sport last week that he wanted the Scottish belt to be the first of many and he reiterated that view shortly after the Taylor fight, targeting a shot at the vacant Celtic lightweight title in September.
“Now I have that title in the bag, it’s time to look for more,” he added. “I want to fight for the Celtic title against Gavin Gwynne in September.
“I’ll take a couple of weeks off now and visit some family but I’ll be getting back in the gym soon to keep myself in shape. The Celtic in September is my main goal now so I’ll speaking to my coach and manager to make sure I can get that one sorted.”
READ MORE: Ibrahim eyeing title on historic night for Scottish boxing
Former WBO world champion Alex Arthur, ringside for BBC Scotland, was full of praise for the Scotstoun fighter, deeming his win over Taylor fight of the night and admitting a British title shot could be on the horizon.
“That for me was fight of the night. It had us all on the edge of our seats.
“It’s difficult to say where he could go from here but the natural progression would be a British title fight.”
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