Dubai-based Jordanian lightweight Bader Samreen will be out to stretch his unbeaten record when he meets Mexico's Jose Paez Gonzales in the main event of the inaugural Rising Stars Arabia fight card at the Mubadala Arena on Saturday.
The 2018 AIBA Youth World Championships bronze medallist is on eight wins - seven by knockout - and this weekend faces the biggest test of his career since turning professional in 2021.
“I’m very excited and this is a great opportunity to feature in the main event in Abu Dhabi,” Samreen told The National of the fight series that includes fighters from the Arab region and across the world.
“This is an opportunity and I’ll make sure I prove myself. I know a lot about Jose. He’s an experienced fighter, and me and my coach [Robert Etorma from the Philippines] have studied every angle of him, and we will hopefully come out victorious.”
Samreen began boxing at the age of 12 in 2012 in Amman, and had a successful amateur career, becoming a four-time national and Arab champion as well as winning bronze at the World Youth Championships.
He moved to Dubai in February 2021 and turned professional under manager Ahmed Al Seddiqi, the Emirati who established the first specialised boxing gym – Round 10 Boxing Gym – in the country and pioneered pro boxing in the region as a promoter and manager.
“Hopefully I can take my undefeated record forward, and hopefully keep climbing the stairs,” the Jordanian said.
“I have a lot of goals to achieve but right now I want to get this contest behind me. We have a gameplan for a title fight next year.
“All I must do is to keep training and learning from my manager while he monitors my progress and prepares my pathway. It is a partnership that is going well - he does his job and I do my job.”
Samreen met Al Seddiqi on social media and that interaction has now allowed him to pursue his dream.
“We don’t have pro boxing in Jordan,” he said. “Nobody in the world will be looking for pro boxers in Jordan. After winning a bronze in the World Youths I started contacting hundreds of those involved in pro boxing.
“I was just trying my luck because I came from a humble family. I thought winning bronze in the World Youths was an opportunity to try to get into pro boxing so I started messaging people with the hope of getting an opportunity.
“I had some responses but never the opportunity. Ahmed struck up a dialogue that lasted over three months before one fine day he asked me to send my passport details.
“It was towards the end of 2020 when the entire world was struggling with travel restrictions because of Covid-19.”
It turned out to be a life-changing experience for Samreen, who is the second child in a family of four siblings. He did, however, have to sacrifice his education for boxing.
“My final exam in high school clashed with the World Youths and I failed in two subjects. I thought I’ll go back to school but I didn’t because I wanted to pursue boxing full-time, which was my dream,” he said.
Samreen featured on the Oleksandr Usyk v Anthony Joshua undercard on August 20 last year at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah. He stopped Fuad Tarverdi of Azerbaijan with a first round TKO. He then returned to the ring to defeat Romanian Viorel Simion, also by first round TKO, on the Jake Paul versus Tommy Fury undercard in February.
Joining Samreen from the Round 10 Boxing Gym is UAE's Sultan Al Nuaimi, who also puts his nine-fight undefeated pro record on the line when he meets Tanzanian Jemsi Kibazange in the super-flyweight division.
Al Nuaimi, 30, returns more than a year after breaking his thumb in his last fight against India's Sohaib Haque in Dubai.
“I fractured my thumb in the first round but kept going and won by knockout in the seventh round,” he said of his last fight in November 2022. “I broke my thumb in the first 30 seconds of the first round. I didn’t think it was so bad at that time. It needed surgery and it took me two months to fully recover.”
Thereafter, Al Nuaimi had to undergo national service for six months and is now employed with Dubai Police.
“The police department knows of my boxing background and they give me time off for my training,” he said.
He meets an experienced opponent and billed it as the biggest of his pro career.
“Obviously the obstacles get bigger as you move up the ranks but I’m well prepared. Hopefully, I can come out of this with a win and continue my journey,” Al Nuaimi added.
Fight card (doors open 6pm)
Featherweight (4 rounds): Yousuf Ali (2-0-0 win/loss/draw) BHR v Alex Semugenyi (0-1-0) UGA
Welterweight (6 rounds): Benyamin Moradzadeh (0-0-0) IRN v Rohit Chaudhary (4-0-2) IND
Heavyweight (4 rounds): Youssef Karrar (1-0-0) v Muhammad Muzeei (0-0-0) UGA
Welterweight (6 rounds): Marwan Mohamad Madboly (2-0-0) EGY v Sheldon Schultz (4-4-0) RSA
Super-featherweight (8 rounds): Bishara Sabbar (6-0-0) JOR v Mohammed Azahar (8-5-1) IND
Cruiserweight (8 rounds): Mohammed Bekdash (25-0-0) GER v Musa N’tege (8-4-0) UGA
Super-flyweight (10 rounds): Sultan Al Nuaimi (9-0-0) UAE v Jemsi Kibazange (18-6-2) TZA
Lightweight (10 rounds): Bader Samreen (8-0-0) JOR v Jose Paez Gonzales (16-2-2) MEX
How to join and use Abu Dhabi’s public libraries
• There are six libraries in Abu Dhabi emirate run by the Department of Culture and Tourism, including one in Al Ain and Al Dhafra.
• Libraries are free to visit and visitors can consult books, use online resources and study there. Most are open from 8am to 8pm on weekdays, closed on Fridays and have variable hours on Saturdays, except for Qasr Al Watan which is open from 10am to 8pm every day.
• In order to borrow books, visitors must join the service by providing a passport photograph, Emirates ID and a refundable deposit of Dh400. Members can borrow five books for three weeks, all of which are renewable up to two times online.
• If users do not wish to pay the fee, they can still use the library’s electronic resources for free by simply registering on the website. Once registered, a username and password is provided, allowing remote access.
• For more information visit the library network's website.
The specs: 2017 Porsche 718 Cayman
Price, base / as tested Dh222,500 / Dh296,870
Engine 2.0L, flat four-cylinder
Transmission Seven-speed PDK
Power 300hp @ 6,500rpm
Torque 380hp @ 1,950rpm
Fuel economy, combined 6.9L / 100km
AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Tim Paine (captain), Sean Abbott, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner
NYBL PROFILE
Company name: Nybl
Date started: November 2018
Founder: Noor Alnahhas, Michael LeTan, Hafsa Yazdni, Sufyaan Abdul Haseeb, Waleed Rifaat, Mohammed Shono
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Software Technology / Artificial Intelligence
Initial investment: $500,000
Funding round: Series B (raising $5m)
Partners/Incubators: Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 4, Dubai Future Accelerators Cohort 6, AI Venture Labs Cohort 1, Microsoft Scale-up
Points tally
1. Australia 52; 2. New Zealand 44; 3. South Africa 36; 4. Sri Lanka 35; 5. UAE 27; 6. India 27; 7. England 26; 8. Singapore 8; 9. Malaysia 3
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 247hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km
Price: from Dh94,900
On sale: now
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Drishyam 2
Directed by: Jeethu Joseph
Starring: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba, Murali Gopy
Rating: 4 stars
The%20specs
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The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
Uefa Nations League: How it Works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
SPECS
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