Ekow Essuman


Ekow 'The Engine' Essuman is a Motswana-British professional boxer. At regional level, he has held multiple welterweight championships, including the British and Commonwealth titles from 2021 to 2023. He holds a notable win over former undisputed light-welterweight champion Josh Taylor.

Professional career

Essuman made his professional debut on 1 December 2016, scoring a four-round points decision victory against Andrej Cepur at the Holiday Inn, Birmingham, England.
After compiling a record of 8–0, he faced Andy Keates for the vacant English welterweight title on 20 October 2018 at the Harvey Hadden Sports Village in Nottingham, England. Essuman knocked Keates down twice in the fourth round en route to a fifth-round technical knockout. He returned to the Harvey Hadden Sports Village for his next fight, successfully defending his English title against former British super-lightweight champion, Tyrone Nurse, via majority decision on 16 March 2019. Two judges scored the bout in favour of Essuman with 98–93 and 96–94 while the third scored it a draw at 95–95. After a stoppage win over William Warburton in July and a PTS victory over Zygimantas Butkevicius in October, Essuman finished 2019 with a second defence of his title on 30 November, defeating Curtis Felix Jr via eighth-round TKO at the York Hall in London.
Essuman defended his British, Commonwealth and IBF European welterweight belts, against Darren Tetley on 23 April 2022, on the undercard of Tyson Fury vs. Dillian Whyte.
He lost his titles and unbeaten record to Harry Scarff at Manchester Arena on 18 November 2023 via unanimous decision.
Essuman stopped Owen Cooper in the final round to win the WBO European welterweight title at Manchester Arena on 20 July 2024.
He made a successful first defense of his title with a majority decision victory over Ben Vaughan at Resorts World Arena in Birmingham on 2 November 2024.
Essuman defeated Josh Taylor by unanimous decision to win the vacant WBO Global title at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow on 24 May 2025.
He lost the title in his first defense against Jack Catterall by 11th round technical knockout at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on 15 November 2025.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
24Loss22–2Jack CatterallTKO11, 0:5015 Nov 2025Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, EnglandLost WBO Global welterweight title
23Win22–1Josh TaylorUD1224 May 2025OVO Hydro, Glasgow, ScotlandWon vacant WBO Global welterweight title
22Win21–1Ben VaughanMD102 Nov, 2024Resorts World Arena, Birmingham, EnglandRetained WBO European welterweight title
21Win20–1Owen CooperTKO10 0:2320 Jul, 2024Manchester Arena, Manchester, EnglandWon WBO European welterweight title
20Loss19–1Harry ScarffUD1218 Nov 2023Manchester Arena, Manchester, EnglandLost British, Commonwealth, and IBF European welterweight titles
19Win19–0Chris KongoMD1221 Jan 2023Manchester Arena, Manchester, EnglandRetained British, Commonwealth and IBF European welterweight titles;
Won WBC International Silver welterweight title
18Win18–0Samuel AntwiUD1224 Sep 2022Manchester Arena, Manchester, EnglandRetained British, Commonwealth, and IBF European welterweight titles
17Win17–0Darren TetleyUD1223 Apr 2022Wembley Stadium, London, EnglandRetained British, Commonwealth, and IBF European welterweight titles
16Win16–0Danny BallKO6, 3:009 Oct 2021Arena Birmingham, Birmingham, EnglandRetained British, Commonwealth, and IBF European welterweight titles
15Win15–0Chris JenkinsTKO8, 0:4324 Jul 2021The SSE Arena, London, EnglandWon British and Commonwealth welterweight titles
14Win14–0Cedrick PeynaudUD1012 Sep 2020York Hall, London, EnglandWon vacant IBF European welterweight title
13Win13–0Curtis Felix JrTKO8, 2:1430 Nov 2019York Hall, London, EnglandRetained English welterweight title
12Win12–0Zygimantas ButkeviciusPTS619 Oct 2019Britannia Hotel, Nottingham, England
11Win11–0William WarburtonRTD6, 3:006 Jul 2019Harvey Hadden Sports Village, Nottingham, England
10Win10–0Tyrone Nurse1016 Mar 2019Harvey Hadden Sports Village, Nottingham, EnglandRetained English welterweight title
9Win9–0Andy KeatesTKO5, 0:4320 Oct 2018Harvey Hadden Sports Village, Nottingham, EnglandWon vacant English welterweight title
8Win8–0Edvinas PuplauskasPTS615 Sep 2018Britannia Hotel, Nottingham, England
7Win7–0Nelson AltamiranoTKO1, 0:4231 Mar 2018Harvey Hadden Sports Village, Nottingham, England
6Win6–0Jordan GrannumPTS616 Dec 2017Bingham Leisure Centre, Bingham, England
5Win5–0Serge AmbomoPTS821 Oct 2017Harvey Hadden Sports Village, Nottingham, England
4Win4–0Arvydas TriznoPTS424 Jun 2017Bingham Leisure Centre, Bingham, England
3Win3–0Casey Blair3, 0:2622 Apr 2017Leicester Arena, Leicester, England
2Win2–0Kevin McCauleyPTS44 Feb 2017Bingham Leisure Centre, Bingham, England
1Win1–0Andrej Cepur41 Dec 2016Holiday Inn, Birmingham, England