Boxing barber looking to be razor sharp on ring return this month

BY JACK BURGESS

Unbeaten cruiserweight prospect Ibz Mercan steps back into the ring on April 22 as he looks to make it 3-0 in the professional ranks.

The South Londoner, whose day job entails running a barber’s shop, will be looking to make a razor sharp return to the ring against Liverpool’s Bradley Davies at York Hall. It will be the 32-year-old’s first bout since defeating Darryl Sharp in July.

Davies comes into the fight similarly inexperienced in the professional game, having only had three fights to this point (0-2-1).

Mercan has been training at Anton Pattenden’s Honour & Glory Gym in Kidbrooke where he has been sparring former Commonwealth title challenger Robin Dupre as he looks to develop the cutting edge needed to record another victory.

“Training has been going well,” Mercan told the South London Press. “It’s been really good (sparring Dupre) and I’ve been having real good rounds with him. It’s become a regular thing.

“I’ve sparred Wadi Camacho, who was Commonwealth and Southern Area champion. He’s someone that I learned a lot from. So I’ve shared the ring with a few good people along my journey. Dupre has always been involved and I’m actually going to spar with him next week again.”

When questioned on how he would describe his boxing style, Mercan said: “I’m an all-rounder. I can box and I can fight – so I can mix it up a bit depending on what I’m up against”

Richard Riakporhe, Dan Azeez and Joshua Buatsi are South Londoners to progress through the ranks in recent years. Mercan sees this as a source of inspiration and motivation for himself.

“I remember when I was finishing off as an amateur, I went to train at the Lynn (boxing club) and I remember seeing the likes of Richard Riakporhe, Isaac Chamberlain and Chris Kongo. When you’re an amateur and seeing these people just going through the ranks and down their different paths it is inspiring.”

The 32-year-old cited boxing great Muhammad Ali as his main role model in boxing.

“I like other boxers, but Ali was just my guy,” he said. “I don’t think anything comes close to Ali. He was just special.”

Outside the ring, Mercan runs ‘Iconic Barbers’ located in West Norwood.

“I’ve had to take a bit of a break from boxing due to injuries and I’ve got my own family,” he said. “Obviously me having my own barber shop, I needed to guarantee their future first and guarantee my own too. Boxing is a great thing to do but you don’t know which way it will go.

“If I put all my effort into boxing I could come out with nothing, I don’t want to be an older guy stacking shelves and doing rubbish. I just wanted to sort out my life first and now I can take time off and train during the day. Having people that work for me, I can be more flexible when I can train and do what I’ve got to do.”

For boxers progressing through the ranks and starting their professional careers, the Covid period created major obstacles.

“That took two years out of my career, because we couldn’t do anything,” said Mercan. “But, like I mentioned before with some of the other guys , it’s inspiring to know that these are the ones that I saw in the amateur gyms and they’ve gone so far in the game.”

Mercan’s manager Mickey Helliet has set a target of a shot at the Southern Area title in 2024.

Asked as to how far he believes that he can go in his boxing career, Mercan said: “I believe that hard work beats anything and I’ve got to where I am in my life by just working hard.

“I don’t know how far I will go, but I’m going to give my 100 percent and see how far we can go. I don’t want to sit here and say I’m going to be a world champion, the truth is work hard and we’ll see what happens.

“I worked very hard to be in the position that I am in today in life. That hard work has given me the chance to work hard in boxing, something that I’ve been doing since I was a kid. Sky’s the limit really.”

Tickets for Mercan’s fight against Bradley Davies at York Hall on the 22nd April can be purchased by calling 07539 297 949, and you can follow his journey on Instagram at Ibz_boxing.