Samir Ziani


Samir Ziani is a French professional boxer who has held the European super-featherweight.

Professional career

Ziani made his professional debut on 21 May 2010, scoring a four-round points decision victory against Jerry Cagniac at the Salle Polyvalente des Ramiers in Blagnac, France.
He compiled a record of 8–0–1 before defeating Carel Sandon via ninth-round corner retirement on 8 July 2011, capturing the vacant WBC International Silver lightweight title at the Piazza XX Settembre in Civitanova Marche, Italy. After retaining his title with a unanimous decision victory against Ruddy Encarnacion in January 2012, Ziani defeated Andrey Kudryavtsev via UD on 29 April at the Donbass Arena in Kyiv, Ukraine, capturing the vacant WBA International lightweight title.
Following four more victories, one by stoppage, he suffered the first defeat of his career on 7 December 2013 at the Gymnase Georges Racine in Clichy, France, losing by twelve-round UD against Samir Kasmi in a bid for the vacant European Union super-featherweight title.
He bounced back with a PTS victory against Sebastien Cornu in March 2014 before defeating Yoann Portallier on 6 June at the Salle Polyvalente des Ramiers, capturing the French super-featherweight title via UD over ten rounds.
In his next fight he suffered the second defeat of his career, losing by UD over ten rounds in December 2014 against future IBF lightweight champion Richard Commey. Following the loss, Ziani went on a five-fight winning streak before facing Guillame Frenois for the vacant European super-featherweight title. The fight took place on 10 November 2016 at the Halle Georges Carpentier in Paris, France. All three judges scored the bout 115–113 in favour of Frenois, handing Ziani his third professional defeat.
After scoring two wins in April 2017, Ziani faced reigning French super-featherweight champion and former foe Samir Kasmi in a rematch on 18 May at the Cirque d'hiver in Paris. Ziani got his revenge over Kasmi with a ten-round majority decision victory to capture the French title for a second time. Two judges scored the bout 97–93 and 97–94 in favour of Ziani, while the third judge scored it a draw with 95–95.
Following three PTS victories, he made a second attempt at the vacant European super-featherweight title, facing Juli Giner on 2 February 2019 at the Palau Olímpic Vall d'Hebron in Barcelona, Spain. Ziani captured the vacant title with a sixth-round stoppage via RTD after Giner quit in his corner at the end of the round. After a PTS win against Wallington Orobio in a non-title fight in April, Ziani retained his European title with a UD victory against Faroukh Kourbanov on 26 October in Agen, France, with one judge scoring the bout 119–109 while the other two scored it 116–112.
In the second defence of his title, Ziani faced Alex Dilmaghani on 5 September 2020 at the Production Park Studios in South Kirkby, England. After eleven closely contested rounds, Ziani was behind on the judges' scorecards. At the end of the eleventh, Ziani caused Dilmaghani to stagger across the ring after a sustained attack. The champion followed up with a three-punch combination which visibly hurt the challenger. In the twelfth and final round Ziani resumed his assault, forcing Dilmaghani to the canvas twice, with referee Giuseppe Quartarone ruling both as slips. Ziani, now landing punches with ease, caught Dilmaghani with a left hook to send the challenger to the canvas with 30 seconds of the fight remaining, scoring the first official knockdown of the fight. Dilmaghani made it back to his left before Quartarone reached the count of ten, only to be knocked into the ropes and onto the canvas for a second time. Dilmaghani again made it to his feet but Quartarone decided to call a halt to the contest, handing Ziani a twelfth-round technical knockout victory. At the time of the stoppage, Ziani was behind on two of the judges' scorecards with 106–103 and 105–104, while the third judge scored in favour of Ziani with 105–104.
Ziani was booked to face Serif Gurdijeljac for the vacant IBF Inter-Continental super-featherweight title on 27 November 2021. He won the fight by a ninth-round technical knockout, which his second consecutive stoppage victory.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
40WinJordan RodriguezUD1027 Apr 2024Salle Vallier, Marseille, FranceRetained WBC International Silver super-featherweight title
39Win35–3–1Jose Macias EnriquezMD1015 Dec 2023Palais des Sports de Gerland, Lyon, FranceWon vacant WBC International Silver super-featherweight title
38Win34–3–1Hector BetancourtUD83 Mar 2023Salle Pollyvalente des Ramiers, Blagnac, France
37Win33–3–1Serif GurdijeljacTKO9 27 Nov 2021Salle Mory, Villeneuve-sur-Lot, FranceWon vacant IBF Inter-Continental super-featherweight title
36Win32–3–1Alex DilmaghaniTKO12, 2:515 Sep 2020Production Park Studios, South Kirkby, EnglandRetained European super-featherweight title
35Win31–3–1Faroukh KourbanovUD1226 Oct 2019 Agen Stadium, Agen, FranceRetained European super-featherweight title
34Win30–3–1Wallington OrobioPTS65 Apr 2019Salle Pollyvalente des Ramiers, Blagnac, France
33Win29–3–1Juli GinerRTD6, 3:002 Feb 2019Palau Olimpic Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, SpainWon vacant European super-featherweight title
32Win28–3–1Michael DufekPTS822 Jun 2018Gymnase St. Exupéry, Blagnac, France
31Win27–3–1Dame SeckPTS614 Apr 2018Gymnase Massot, Le Puy-en-Velay, France
30Win26–3–1Sylvain ChapellePTS621 Oct 2017Gymnase St. Exupéry, Blagnac, France
29Win25–4–1Samir Kasmi1018 May 2017Cirque d'Hiver, Paris, FranceWon French super-featherweight title
28Win24–3–1Giorgi GachechiladzeTKO4 8 Apr 2017Gymnase Massot, Le Puy-en-Velay, France
27Win23–3–1Dame SeckPTS81 Apr 2017Salle des Trois Provinces, Brive-la-Gaillarde, France
26Loss22–3–1Guillaume FrenoisPTS1210 Nov 2016Halle Georges Carpentier, Paris, FranceFor vacant European super-featherweight title
25Win22–2–1Maurycy GojkoUD814 May 2016Salle de L'Amphithéatre, Rodez, France
24Win21–2–1Dame SeckUD1029 Jan 2016Salle Mory, Villeneuve-sur-Lot, FranceRetained French super-featherweight title
23Win20–2–1Alix DjavoievUD614 Nov 2015Salles des Sports, Auxi-le-Château, France
22Win19–2–1Sebastien CornuTKO8 12 Jun 2015Salle Mory, Villeneuve-sur-Lot, FranceRetained French super-featherweight title
21Win18–2–1Alex BonePTS1030 Jan 2015Salle Pollyvalente des Ramiers, Blagnac, France
20Loss17–2–1Richard CommeyUD1013 Dec 2014MusikTeatret, Albertslund, Denmark
19Win17–1–1Yoann PortaillerUD106 Jun 2014Salle Pollyvalente des Ramiers, Blagnac, FranceWon French super-featherweight title
18Win16–1–1Sebastien CornuPTS815 Mar 2014Salles des Trois Provinces, Brive-la-Gaillarde, France
17Loss15–1–1Samir KasmiUD127 Dec 2013Gymnase Georges Racine, Clichy, FranceFor vacant European Union super-featherweight title
16Win15–0–1Sebastien BenitoPTS825 May 2013Salle Mory, Villeneuve-sur-Lot, France
15Win14–0–1Hermin IsavaTKO6 23 Feb 2013Mazagan Beach and Gold Ressort, El Jadida, Morocco
14Win13–0–1Maurycy GojkoPTS823 Nov 2012Salle Pollyvalente des Ramiers, Blagnac, France
13Win12–0–1Brahim BouizemUD815 Jun 2012Halle Aux Grains, Toulouse, France
12Win11–0–1Andrey KudryavtsevUD1229 Apr 2012Donbass Arena, Donetsk, UkraineWon vacant WBA International lightweight title
11Win10–0–1Ruddy EncarnacionUD1026 Jan 2012Salle Pollyvalente des Ramiers, Blagnac, FranceRetained WBC International Silver lightweight title
10Win9–0–1Carel Sandon9, 3:008 Jul 2011Piazza XX Settembre, Civitanova Marche, ItalyWon vacant WBC International Silver lightweight title
9Win8–0–1Sezer ErunsalPTS627 May 2011Salle Pollyvalente des Ramiers, Blagnac, France
8Win7–0–1Mehdi Bounakab47 May 2011Le Dôme de Marseille, Marseille, France
7Win6–0–1Mehdi BoubekeurPTS630 Apr 2011Pierrelaye, France
6Win5–0–1Mounir Chaib3 25 Feb 2011Salle Bellegrave, Pessac, France
5Win4–0–1Yohan GaranxPTS44 Dec 2010Salle Jean Moulin, Bergerac, France
4Win3–0–1Vergile DegonzagaPTS626 Nov 2010Gymnase du Port Marchand, Toulon, France
3Draw2–0–1Marvin PetitPTS66 Nov 2010Salle C.S Europe, Élancourt, France
2Win2–0Christophe GuedesPTS412 Jun 2010Gymnase Raymond Boisset, Cournon d'Auvergne, France
1Win1–0Jerry Cagniac421 May 2010Salle Pollyvalente des Ramiers, Blagnac, France