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
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Green ambitions
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Your Guide to the Home
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Ligue 1: Appearances - 29, Goals - 15, Assists - 8
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Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
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Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
