New Faces: Mehmet Ünal

Mehmet Ünal - Photo by Vincent Ethier/Eye of The Tiger

Mar

by Anson Wainwright |

MEHMET ÜNAL

Age: 31

Home country: Adana, Turkey

Weight class: light heavyweight

Height: 6-foot (182 cm)

Amateur record: 100 fights roughly

Turned pro: 2021

Pro record: 8-0 (7 knockouts)

Trainer: Marc Ramsay

Manager: None

Promoter: Eye of The Tiger

Instagram: @unalmehmetnadir

Best night of pro career and why: Ünal is most pleased with his last outing on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev-Callum Smith at the Centre Videotron, Quebec City, Canada.

“The Italian guy, Dragan Lepei ,” Ünal told The Ring. “He was very experienced guy. He fought 12-rounds with Giovanni De Carolis. He is very active and had heavy hands.

“It was quick, 57 seconds. I didn’t expect it like that. I thought it was going the distance, minimum six or seven rounds.”

Worst night of pro career and why: The 31-year-old dominated Hernan Perez, winning a shutout six-round on two scorecards and only losing a round on the other but felt he wasn’t at his best against his opponent.

“The Argentinean guy was tough for me,” he said. “He’s small and fast, he had a lot of experience. It was difficult to fight a small guy.”

What’s Next: Ünal will fight for the fifth time in seven months when he meets tough, experienced veteran Facundo Galovar at the Montreal Casino, Montreal, on Thursday.

“Lets see if I can stop this guy. Boxing people want to see me in the ring and do rounds,” he said. “I would like to do rounds also but I don’t have the choice. This is business and it’s my job, you can receive one punch and your boxing career can change. I just want to complete my mission in the ring and if there is any opportunity to stop my opponent, I will do this.”

Galovar (15-10-2, 9 KOs) has been a professional since 2015. The 30-year-old from Tucuman, Argentina has only been stopped once against Rolando Mansilla (TKO 5). However, he has gone the distance in losing efforts with the likes of then unbeaten Julio Alamos (UD 10), Robert Parzeczewski (UD 10), Albert Ramirez (UD 10) and Pablo Corzo (UD 10/ UD 10).

Ünal is expected to win but it will be interesting to see if he can make the statement by getting the stoppage. He’s been active and I feel that will help him maybe force a late stoppage.

Mehmet Ünal – Photo by Vincent Ethier/Eye of The Tiger

Why he’s a prospect: Ünal was a good amateur collecting several national titles. He represented his country at the 2016 Rio Olympics, losing to the eventual gold medalist.

“It was really good experience for me, if you win the World Championships [as an amateur] people forget this success but people never forget the Olympics, people always remind you,” he said.

“I fought with Julio Cesar La Cruz, he’s a five-time world champion as an amateur and two-time Olympic champion. I didn’t want to fight him because he’s an amateur guy, touching you, doesn’t let you touch him. It’s very difficult to catch him in three rounds, you don’t have much time. I lost to him.”

While he lost on two occasions to La Cruz, he did upset other top amateurs including Oleksandr Khyzhniak, Keno Machado and Loren Alfonso.

Prior to leaving Turkey, Ünal gained experience with compatriot and former standout Adem Kılıççı. Since coming to Montreal he has sparred countless rounds with Ring-rated super middleweights Christian Mbilli and Erik Bazinyan.

Ünal is physically strong, likes to fight on the front foot, swarming his opponent. He is powerful and says his most impressive weapons are his uppercut and hook.

Ünal reached out to Eye of The Tiger Development Director and Head Coach Marc Ramsay about the possibility of working with the esteemed coach.

“I had seen his name circulating in the amateur ranks but I never had the chance to see him box,” said Ramsay. “After that I started to follow his results and he always ended up causing an upset in tournaments in Europe. He managed to stop the world amateur champion and Olympic medalist Loren Alfonso in a tournament in Turkey.

“It was clear that he had the punching power, he’s physically strong. He has the heart of a professional boxer, he’s very committed to combat.”

Why he’s a suspect: Ünal is still raw and there are subtle things he could look to bring to his game. Not every shot needs to be fight ending, he can look to pace himself and if he can work on his jab that would be key to his arsenal.

Although he’s 31, there no rush, he is still very much a work in progress. Ünal has clearly benefited and improved from being so active. It will also help him training and working alongside the plethora of fighters who train at Ramsay’s gym including unified light heavyweight titlist Beterbiev, as well as Christian Mbilli, Erik Bazinyan etc.

“I think I need to do rounds, I need more experience in the ring,” he said. “I’m very active, I’m in shape, we want to keep it like it is there is no injury. It’s really good, fighters should fight.”

Ramsay says he needs to work on his client not becoming too aggressive and getting countered.

“With a style like that, to be able to win at the highest level, you need a very good defense and that’s what we’re working on at the moment,” said the trainer.

Storylines: Ünal was one of three children born in Adana, the fourth largest city in Turkey and situated in the south central.

“Life is difficult, it’s challenging that makes me very strong,” he said of his formative years.

He lived there until he was 11. The family then moved to where his mother is from and he played football until he was 14 and then he turned to boxing, though didn’t really take it seriously until he was 17. He briefly switched to kick-boxing for a couple of years before doubling down on his boxing pursuit at 21.

“I didn’t do much kickboxing,” he explained. “When I was Youth national boxing team but when I turned 18 I was not able to join the elite boxing team because there was a lot of good fighters, so I tried kickboxing and was national champion and European championship third place medal and third place at the World Championship and then I stopped kickboxing. I was able to join the elite boxing.”

For now he isn’t getting caught up in setting targets and goals for his career.

“I don’t like to plan that much for long term,” he said. “First step is my next step, lets beat this guy and then lets see after what can happen. Step by step we can move like this.”

After moving to Montreal last year, he initially lived with stablemate Jhon Orobio, who had moved from Colombia. He’s settled and happy with his new way of life.

“It is not easy to move to another country, it is a challenge,” he said. “I was living in Germany for four-years, it challenged me a lot. I already knew before I moved it could be difficult.

“I live with my girlfriend, she is behind me. It is very important to have friends and family. You have to have success in your social life and your boxing career, you cannot have success without the other. You must be happy.”

Fight-by-Fight Record

2024

Jan. 13 – Dragan Lepei – TKO 1

2023

Nov. 14 – Jaime Hernandez – RTD 2

Oct. 11 – Luca Spadaccini – RTD 1

Sept. 9 – Hernan Perez – UD 6

May 5 – Roberto Moreno – TKO 2

Jan. 14 – Israel Lopez – TKO 2

2022

Inactive

2021