Great boxer of Republic of Türkiye: Sinan Samil Sam, 'Bull of the Bosphorus'

ANKARA

Sinan Samil Sam, who achieved gold belts in the intercontinental and Mediterranean categories of the European Boxing Union (EBU) and the World Boxing Council (WBC) in his heavyweight career, received the nickname "Bull of the Bosphorus" with his endurance, hard punches and combative power in the ring.

A glamorous amateur boxing career

One of the greatest boxers in the history of the Republic of Türkiye, Sinan Samil Sam, "The Bull of the Bosphorus," was born in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1974.

Sam performed very successfully during his amateur boxing period and became the Turkish champion nine times.

The Turkish athlete did not take long to gain attention in the international arena as he reached the middleweight final of the 1992 Junior European Championships held in Edinburgh, Scotland.

In the same year, he won the gold medal in the Light Heavyweight category at the age of 18 by defeating Puerto Rican Alexander Gonzalez in the final of the Junior European Championship held in Montreal, Canada.

In 1993, he clinched another Light Heavyweight gold medal at the 1993 Mediterranean Games, which was held in Languedoc-Roussillon, France.

He bagged his first Heavyweight medal as he won a bronze medal in the World Championship held in Berlin.

Sam reached his peak at the 1999 Super Heavyweight World Championship by bagging the gold medal.

Sinan Samil Sam, who recorded 217 wins and 18 defeats in amateur matches, became a professional on April 15, 2000.

- Sam's professional career

The Bull of the Bosphorus made a great start to his professional career by winning his first 18 matches.

On October 17, 2002, he made history by knocking out Polish Przemyslaw Saleta in the 7th round by becoming the first Turkish boxer to win the European Boxing Union (EBU) title and to become champion in the heavyweight category.

The Turkish boxer, who defended his title against Great Britain's Danny Williams in 2003, suffered his first defeat against Cuban Juan Carlos Gomez.

In 2004, he won the World Boxing Council (WBC) Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship title match by defeating Russian athlete Denis Bakthov in Kempten, Germany.

Sam lost his belt in 2006, losing by points to US athlete Oleg Maskaev, but then regained the WBC title the same year by defeating Brazilian George Arias.

Sinan Samil Sam defeated Croatian Ivica Perkovic in the WBC Mediterranean Heavyweight Championship title fight in 2008, won the next three matches and retained this belt until his retirement.

In his last match, Sam regained the EBU championship by defeating Italian Paulo Vidoz in the fight for the heavyweight title on July 4, 2008.

- 31 wins out of 35 professional matches

Sam, who won 31 of the 35 matches he fought in his professional boxing life, 16 of which were by knockout, experienced health problems in 2009.
The Bull of the Bosphorus was taken to intensive care in December 2010 due to liver failure and passed away in 201 at the age of 41.

*Writing by Selcuk Bugra Gokalp