Friday Ahunanya

Friday Chinedu Ahunanya (born 19 November 1971) is a Nigerian professional boxer.^[1] He is a journeyman heavyweight, best known for beating several undefeated prospects and for his appearances on ESPN fight cards.

Amateur career

• 1994: World Cup, Bangkok, Thailand, Heavyweight:
  • Lost to Georgi Kandelaki (Georgia) on points

• 1994: Commonwealth Games, Victoria, Heavyweight:
  • Defeated Roland Raforme (Seychelles) on points
  • Lost to Stephen Gallinger (Canada) on points

Professional career

Known as Friday "The 13th," Ahunanya began his career in 1998 with a good deal of promise, winning his first 16 fights including a victory over undefeated (16-0-1) Nate Jones. In 2001 he lost a decision to undefeated (15-0) Olympian and future titlist Serguei Lyakhovich. In 2002, he handed French Olympian Josue Blocus his first loss.

In 2004, he had his only early loss when hit in the eye in the 4th round by Lance Whitaker. The loss to Whitaker was the beginning of the decline for Ahunanya. He went on to lose to Taurus Sykes in New Mexico, who was not highly regarded in spite of his 22-1-1 record in 2005, arguably the low point of his career.

He then drew with fringe contender Dominick Guinn, and then was competitive in losing efforts against undefeated prospects Sultan Ibragimov (Olympic silver medalist) and Alexander Povetkin (Olympic Gold medalist).

In 2007 he rebounded by handing 19-0 New Zealand prospect Shane Cameron his first loss by knocking him down twice in the 12th and final round. After the second knockdown, the referee intervened and stopped the contest, earning Ahunanya a TKO victory. In 2008 he stopped another undefeated prospect in Alonzo Butler.

Ahunanya lost to David Tua in March 2010 in New Zealand via decision. However Ahunanya and his manager claimed he should have won, and would have if the fight had been in the USA. After further review it was obvious that David Tua won the fight by unanimous decision.

Professional boxing record

24 Wins (13 knockouts, 11 decisions), 9 Losses (1 knockout, 8 decisions), 3 Draws[2]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	17-0	Mike Perez	UD	10	30/12/2011	Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa, Cabazon, California
Loss	32-2	Chris Arreola	UD	10	09/07/2011	Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Loss	23-17-2	Cisse Salif	UD	6	24/05/2011	Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica, California
Loss	50-3-1	David Tua	UD	12	31/03/2010	Trusts Stadium, Auckland	WBO Asia Pacific/Oriental Heavyweight Titles.
Win	26-0-1	Alonzo Butler	UD	10	20/06/2008	Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	19-0	Shane Cameron	TKO	12	02/11/2007	Skycity Convention Centre, Auckland	PABA/WBO Asia Pacific/WBA NABA Heavyweight Titles. Referee stopped the bout at 2:14 of the 12th round.
Draw	7-1	Franklin Lawrence	SD	8	06/07/2007	The Orleans, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	21-9-2	James Walton	TKO	2	15/06/2007	The Orleans, Las Vegas, Nevada	Referee stopped the bout at 2:50 of the second round.
Win	15-23-1	Ramon Hayes	UD	6	27/04/2007	The Orleans, Las Vegas, Nevada
Loss	6-0	Alexander Povetkin	UD	6	22/04/2006	SAP Arena, Mannheim
Loss	17-0	Sultan Ibragimov	TD	9	16/09/2005	Gwinnett Center, Duluth, Georgia	WBO Asia Pacific Heavyweight Title.
Draw	25-2	Dominick Guinn	PTS	10	22/04/2005	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada
Loss	22-1-1	Taurus Sykes	UD	12	11/03/2005	Lea County Events Center, Hobbs, New Mexico	WBA NABA Heavyweight Title.
Loss	27-2-1	Lance Whitaker	TKO	5	17/04/2004	Florida State Fairgrounds, Tampa, Florida	WBO NABO/WBA NABA Heavyweight Titles. Referee stopped the bout at 0:42 of the fifth round.
Win	28-15	Thomas Williams	KO	4	05/12/2003	Seminole Casino, Coconut Creek, Florida	Williams knocked out at 1:34 of the fourth round.
Win	15-17	Onebo Maxime	UD	10	23/08/2003	Seminole Casino, Coconut Creek, Florida
Win	12-3-1	Francisco Daniel Silva	TKO	1	28/06/2003	Seminole Casino, Coconut Creek, Florida	Referee stopped the bout at 1:13 of the first round.
Draw	32-12	Terrence Lewis	PTS	10	28/02/2003	The Orleans, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	12-0	Josue Blocus	SD	10	01/06/2002	Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Loss	15-0	Siarhei Liakhovich	UD	12	17/11/2001	Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, Nevada	WBA NABA Heavyweight Title.
Win	6-8-2	James V. Lester	TKO	1	30/06/2001	Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, Nevada	Referee stopped the bout at 2:28 of the first round.
Win	16-0-1	Nate Jones	SD	12	03/03/2001	Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, Nevada	WBA NABA Heavyweight Title.
Win	11-5-1	Otis Tisdale	UD	8	28/11/2000	The Orleans, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	3-2-1	Ivy Calvin	KO	5	26/10/2000	Hollywood Park Racetrack, Inglewood, California	Calvin knocked out at 1:06 of the fifth round.
Win	11-1	Derrell Dixon	PTS	8	16/09/2000	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	13-25-8	Wesley Martin	TKO	8	11/08/2000	Paris Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	8-6-3	Agustin Corpus	TKO	3	01/04/2000	The Regent, Las Vegas, Nevada	Referee stopped the bout at 2:59 of the third round.
Win	4-2-1	Donald Macon	TKO	1	03/03/2000	Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada	Referee stopped the bout at 1:40 of the first round.
Win	--	Juan Carlos Maldonado	TKO	1	12/02/1999	The Orleans, Las Vegas, Nevada	Referee stopped the bout at 1:51 of the first round.
Win	4-5-1	Willie Chapman	UD	6	20/11/1998	The Orleans, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	3-2-1	James V. Lester	PTS	6	31/07/1998	Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	--	Tahavalu Samiu	KO	3	11/07/1998	Reno Hilton Casino Resort, Reno, Nevada
Win	--	Joe L. Gray	UD	4	15/05/1998	The Orleans, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	1-0	Darrell Morgan	PTS	4	09/04/1998	Phoenix, Arizona
Win	6-0	Shane William Heavyrunner	TKO	4	20/03/1998	The Orleans, Las Vegas, Nevada	Referee stopped the bout at 2:22 of the fourth round.
Win	--	Larry Wilson	TKO	1	27/02/1998	The Orleans, Las Vegas, Nevada	Referee stopped the bout at 1:18 of the first round.

References

External links

• Boxing record for Friday Ahunanya from BoxRec (registration required)

This page was last edited on 28 December 2023, at 05:51