Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam explained

Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam
Nickname:Phenomeno
Weight:
Height:1.81 m[1]
Reach:1.87 m
Nationality:
  • Cameroonian
  • French
Birth Date:18 February 1984
Birth Place:Buea, Cameroon
Style:Orthodox
Total:44
Wins:38
Ko:21
Losses:6

Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam (born 18 February 1984) is a French Cameroonian professional boxer. He has held two middleweight world championships; including the WBO title in 2012 and the WBA (Regular) title in 2017, and has challenged once for a super-middleweight world title in 2019.

Amateur career

N'dam N'Jikam won a silver medal in the middleweight division at the 2003 All-Africa Games, losing to Ramadan Yasser of Egypt in the final. N'jikam represented Cameroon in the middleweight bracket at the 2004 Olympics, defeating Juan Ubaldo of the Dominican Republic and Andy Lee of Ireland on close countback decisions, but losing in the quarter-finals to eventual gold medallist Gaydarbek Gaydarbekov of Russia. [2]

Following the Olympics, and having no means of boxing professionally in his native Cameroon, N'Jikam moved to France due to the shared language.[3]

At the 2016 Olympics, professional boxers were permitted to compete at the Olympics for the first ever time. As one of the few professionals who entered, N'Jikam once again represented Cameroon and qualified for the light-heavyweight bracket, but lost in the first round to Michel Borges of Brazil. This was seen as a surprise to many boxing observers, who predicted that amateurs would not fare well against experienced professionals.[4]

Professional career

N'Jikam made his professional debut on 4 December 2004, scoring a third-round stoppage against Alexis Culit. On 30 October 2010, having fought mainly in his adoptive France, N'Jikam won the vacant WBA interim middleweight title with a close unanimous decision (117-111, 115-114, 115-114) over Avtandil Khurtsidze at the Palais des sports Marcel-Cerdan.[5]

N'Jikam's only defense of his title was made on 2 April 2011 against Giovanni Lorenzo. He won a wide unanimous decision (119-109, 119-110, 116-111) However, major controversy arose during the fight when N'Jikam was knocked out of the ring by a series of punches from Lorenzo in round five. A WBA official then helped N'Jikam back into the ring, which was against the sanctioning body's rules. Lorenzo's team later argued that this should have been grounds for immediate disqualification, as well as disputing the overly wide scorecards.[6]

A purse bid was ordered between N'Jikam and WBA (Regular) champion Gennady Golovkin. The purse bid was scheduled for 2 February 2012.[7] However, days before the purse bid N'Jikam vacated his title rather than face Golovkin. [8]

On 4 May 2012, N'Jikam won the vacant WBO interim middleweight title via unanimous decision against Max Bursak.[9]

He was later promoted to full world champion status on 25 August, after Dmitry Pirog was stripped of the title for choosing to fight Gennady Golovkin instead of mandatory challenger N'Jikam.[10] In his first world title defence on 20 October, as well as his first fight in the United States, N'Jikam suffered six knockdowns en route to a unanimous decision loss (107-115, 107-115, 107-115) to Peter Quillin.[11]

N'Jikam won an IBF title eliminator over Curtis Stevens with a unanimous decision (119-108, 116-111, 116-111). Stevens was knocked down in round 8.[12] A second opportunity to become world champion came on 20 June 2015, against David Lemieux for the vacant IBF middleweight title.[13] N'Jikam again endured multiple knockdowns—four in total—but managed to go the distance to lose on the cards (109-115, 109-115, 110-114).[14]

2016 saw N'Jikam reel off four consecutive victories, with a brief pause in August to compete in the 2016 Olympics. On 17 December, he emphatically re-entered the world title scene by becoming WBA interim middleweight champion for a second time, following a brutal one-punch knockout of Alfonso Blanco in only 22 seconds of the first round.[15]

N'Jikam then won the full (Regular) title with a controversial split decision (116-111, 115-112, 110-117) win over Ryōta Murata on 27 May 2017. N'Jikam was knocked down in round 4 but survived and got the decision. When the result was announced, the crowd at Ariake Colosseum jeered.[16] The two judges who scored the fight for N'Jikam were immediately suspended and WBA president Gilberto Mendoza issued a public apology.[17] A rematch was immediately ordered by the WBA,[18] and scheduled for 22 October.[19]

On 22 October, Murata decisively beat N'Jikam, who threw in the towel after round 7. Murata's body attack wore his opponent down, he was also able to hurt him with a series of combinations. The fight was attended by 8,500 people at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan. This was N'Jikam's first stoppage loss.[20]

On 22 December, 2018, N'Jikam managed to overcome a knockdown and beat former title-challenger Martin Murray via a majority-decision win. N'Jikam won on the scorecards, 117-112 and 116-112, while the third judge scored the fight a draw, 114-114.[21]

On the Joshua vs Ruiz undercard, N'Jikam fought Callum Smith for his WBA world title. Smith would end up dropping N'Jikam three times. Despite getting up from the third knockdown too, the referee decided to stop the fight and award Smith the victory.[22]

In his next fight, N'Jikam lost again, this time against WBA #1, WBC #6, IBF #8 and WBC #11 Fedor Chudinov in Russia.[23]

On June 8, 2020, N'Jikam announced that he will transition into MMA, signing with French MMA promotion ARES FC.[24]

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
44Loss38–6Janibek AlimkhanulyTKO8 (10), 20 Nov 2021
43Win38–5Gabor GorbicsUD82 Jul 2021
42Loss37–5Fedor ChudinovUD1213 Dec 2019
41Loss37–4Callum SmithTKO3 (12), 1 Jun 2019
40Win37–3Martin Murray1222 Dec 2018
39Loss36–3Ryōta MurataRTD7 (12), 22 Oct 2017
38Win36–2Ryōta Murata1220 May 2017
37Win35–2Alfonso BlancoKO1 (12), 17 Dec 2016
36Win34–2Tomasz GargulaTKO7 (8)30 Jul 2016
35Win33–2Robert ŚwierzbinskiTKO2 (8)27 May 2016
34Win32–2Patrick MendyUD812 Mar 2016
33Loss31–2David LemieuxUD1220 Jun 2015
32Win31–1Curtis StevensUD121 Oct 2014
31Win30–1Fulgencio ZúñigaUD1016 Apr 2014
30Win29–1Ricardo Marcelo RamalloTKO4 (10), 15 Feb 2014
29Win28–1Anthony FitzgeraldUD1014 Dec 2013
28Loss27–1Peter QuillinUD1220 Oct 2012
27Win27–0Max BursakUD124 May 2012
26Win26–0Giovanni LorenzoUD122 Apr 2011
25Win25–0Avtandil KhurtsidzeUD1230 Oct 2010
24Win24–0Omar Gabriel WeisKO8 (12)12 Jun 2010
23Win23–0Cagri ErmisTKO10 (10)10 Dec 2009
22Win22–0Sergio Jose SandersTKO6 (10)10 Dec 2009
21Win21–0Jefferson GonçaloUD1024 Oct 2009
20Win20–0Gennady MartirosyanKO10 (10)27 Jun 2009
19Win19–0Michael MonaghanTKO7 (8)28 May 2009
18Win18–0Samir Santos BarbosaTKO4 (10)5 Mar 2009
17Win17–0Affif BelghechamUD1011 Dec 2008
16Win16–0Woulid GuarrasKO5 (10)18 Sep 2008
15Win15–0Mehdi AmarUD815 May 2008
14Win14–0Eugen StanPTS817 Apr 2008
13Win13–0Mounir SahliRTD3 (6)21 Feb 2008
12Win12–0Kamel BelhachemiKO1 (6)24 Jan 2008
11Win11–0Mike AlgoetUD68 Dec 2007
10Win10–0Ali BenchablaTKO3 (6)27 Oct 2007
9Win9–0Mike Algoet629 Jun 2007
8Win8–0Malkaz Berkatsashvili5 (8)6 Apr 2007
7Win7–0Vepkhia TchilaiaTKO5 (6)24 Mar 2007
6Win6–0Zied SassiTKO2 (6)17 Jun 2006
5Win5–0Pavel Florin Madalin2 (8)24 Feb 2006
4Win4–0Adrian CerneagaTKO3 (8)31 Oct 2005
3Win3–0Lubo HantakTKO2 (4)25 Jun 2005
2Win2–0Didier Nkuku Mupeko84 Feb 2005
1Win1–0Alexis Culit3 (6)4 Dec 2004

External links

Notes and References

  1. [DAZN]
  2. Web site: ATHENS 2004 - BOXING 69 - 75 KG MEN RESULTS . 21 September 2023 . olympics.com.
  3. Fischer, Doug (15 February 2014). "Q&A: Hassan N'dam N'Jikam". The Ring. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  4. [Associated Press]
  5. LaBate, Chris (30 October 2010). "N'Jikam Decisions Khurtsidze, Wins WBA Interim Title". BoxingScene. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  6. http://www.boxingscene.com/lorenzo-protests-decision-loss-hassan-ndam-njikam--38151 "Lorenzo Protests Decision Loss To Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam"
  7. Web site: Gennady Golovkin — Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam Ordered by WBA, Purse Bid on February 2. 26 January 2012.
  8. Web site: Golovkin's Manager: N'Jikam Has Refused to Fight Gennady. BoxingScene.com.
  9. Donovan, Jake (4 May 2012). "Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam Tops Max Bursak, Wins Interim Title" BoxingScene. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  10. Stangrit, Gregory (3 September 2012). "Dmitry Pirog Not Surprised WBO Took Away His Title". BoxingScene. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  11. http://www.skysports.com/boxing/news/12183/8183434/peter-quillin-beat-hassan-ndam-to-become-wbo-middleweight-champion "Peter Quillin beat Hassan N'Dam to become WBO middleweight champion"
  12. Web site: N'Dam captures decision win over Stevens. 2 October 2014. ESPN.com.
  13. Web site: 2015-06-21. Montreal's David Lemieux defeats N'Dam to win IBF middleweight title. 2021-01-22. Montreal. en.
  14. Fischer, Doug (21 June 2015). "David Lemieux outslugs Hassan N'Dam to earn IBF middleweight title". The Ring. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  15. Ecksel, Robert (17 December 2016). "Hassan N'Dam KOs Blanco in 22 Seconds". WBA. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  16. Web site: N'Dam keeps title with split decision vs. Murata. 20 May 2017. ESPN.com.
  17. Web site: N'Dam-Murata judges suspended over scoring. 26 May 2017. ESPN.com.
  18. http://www.eurosport.com/boxing/boxing-wba-order-rematch-of-n-dam-murata-title-fight_sto6174535/story.shtml "Boxing-WBA order rematch of N'Dam-Murata title fight"
  19. http://www.boxingscene.com/ryota-murata-vs-hassan-ndam-rematch-on-october-22--119133 "Ryota Murata vs. Hassan N'Dam Rematch on October 22"
  20. Web site: Murata stops N'Dam in rematch. Patrick L.. Stumberg. 22 October 2017. Bad Left Hook.
  21. Web site: 22 December 2018. Hassan N'Dam Overcomes Knockdown, Beats Martin Murray. 2020-07-09. BoxingScene.com. en-us.
  22. Web site: Christ. Scott. 2019-06-01. Callum Smith blows out Hassan N'Dam in three rounds. 2020-07-09. Bad Left Hook. en.
  23. Web site: Chudinov vs N'Dam - News, Tape, Ringwalk, TV, Streaming & Tickets. 2020-07-09. Box.Live. en.
  24. Web site: 8 June 2020. Hassan N'Dam Transitions Into MMA, Signs With League ARES FC. 2020-07-09. BoxingScene.com. en-us.