DavidAdeleye

“Big D”

Former WBO European Heavyweight Champion

David Adeleye took a jump into the big time in October 2023 when he featured in the chief support action to the huge collision between Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

He challenged for the British heavyweight title and vacant Commonwealth title against fellow unbeaten Brit Fabio Wardley in a massively anticipated grudge match.

The fight lived up to expectations, but champion Wardley had the final say by forcing a seventh round stoppage and inflicted a first defeat on the 27-year-old.

The Londoner has become a regular in the training camps of heavyweight king Fury and was again drafted in for preparations ahead of Fury’s 2022 Wembley showdown with Dillian Whyte and was on duty again for the December match with Derek Chisora.

Following his first Fury experience in Las Vegas, promoter Frank Warren made him his busiest pandemic boxer, with five behind closed doors fights in front of the BT Sport (now TNT Sports) cameras that boosted his profile.

Matt Gordon, Phil Williams, Danny Whitaker and Dave Preston were impressively blown away and just couldn’t handle his heavy-handed punching.

It was a lot tougher in April 2021 when he leapt up in levels and was pushed all the way by Poland’s Kamil Sokolowski, before taking a close decision after six rounds.

Adeleye made it a magnificent seven wins as a professional in July of the same year when crowds had returned stopping Mladen Manev inside three rounds before taking out Dominik Musil in four.

He then fought on the Fury bill at Wembley Stadium where he stopped the resilient Chris Healey inside four rounds. He got to double figures as a pro at York Hall in December when he stopped Elvis Garcia in two rounds before becoming WBO European champion in February with a second round stoppage of the previously unbeaten Dmytro Bezus.

Adeleye successfully defended his belt at London’s York Hall against Emir Ahmatovic on June 9 2023, via a fifth round stoppage.

He will now be looking to put his Riyadh setback behind him and quickly get himself back in the major title picture.

Adeleye was a Junior ABA champion in 2013 and won the Senior ABA Novices in 2017 before winning the Senior ABAs the following year.

He also represented England in an international against Denmark in 2018 and romped to gold at the British Universities and Colleges Sport Boxing Championships.

During his amateur career, he studied at the University of Wolverhampton, where he graduated in 2019 with a degree in Business Management.