Top Rank® announced today the signing of 2016 Olympic light welterweight gold medalist FAZLIDDIN “Fayzi” GAIBNAZAROV to an exclusive long-term promotional agreement.
Gaibnazarov, shrugging off significant height and reach disadvantages, stunned skillful Cuban-born opponent Lorenzo Sotomayor to pull off the upset, winning the gold via split decision. Gaibnazarov is the seventh 2016 Olympian to join the Top Rank stable, which includes fellow gold medal champion Robson Conceicao, silver medalist Shakur Stevenson, and top amateurs Michael Conlan, Teofimo Lopez, Antonio Vargas and Jeyvier Cintron. Managed by Egis Klimas, the Boxing Writers Association of America’s (BWAA) 2016 Manager of the Year, Gaibnazarov is expected to make his pro debut in an eight-round bout in the spring.
Managed by Egis Klimas, the Boxing Writers Association of America’s (BWAA) 2016 Manager of the Year, Gaibnazarov is expected to make his pro debut in an eight-round bout in the spring.
“Thank you, Top Rank, and especially Bob Arum, for giving me this opportunity and letting me show and prove in the ring my ability to fight as a professional. I would like to thank my country Uzbekistan, which has an excellent amateur boxing program, and my trainer Abror, who helped me to reach one of my goals – winning Olympic gold last summer in Rio. I have many more goals as a professional and I know it will take a lot of hard work to achieve them – to become a world champion as a professional fighter.