Emirati boxer Mohammad Ali Bayat has enjoyed ample time to train in Dubai ahead of Thursday’s bout, which was originally supposed to take place in October. Sarah Dea / The National
Emirati boxer Mohammad Ali Bayat has enjoyed ample time to train in Dubai ahead of Thursday’s bout, which was originally supposed to take place in October. Sarah Dea / The National

Talk is cheap as Dubai-based Iranian boxer Ali Bayat prepares for Kabbani at Thursday Night Fights



Mohammad Ali Bayat’s fight tomorrow night against fellow Dubai resident Abdul Kabbani has been a long time coming.

Thursday Night Fights at Yas Island – the first professional boxing night in the capital – was originally scheduled for mid-October, but was cancelled a few days before the event because of visa problems for one of the headline fighters.

At the time, Ali Bayat, 24, was in the midst of his training regimen. He took a few days off, refocused, then returned to the gym for the next two months in preparation for tomorrow, when he defends his three-fight unbeaten record.

“I am fit and ready for the fight. I have a great trainer, Abdullah Ghasemi, who pushes me every day,” Ali Bayat said.

One reason for Ali Bayat’s focused preparation is that his bout with Kabbani, nicknamed “the Syrian Brawler” is something of a grudge match.

Ali Bayat, the 2012 UAE Fighter of the Year, won the first match between the two on a decision, but since then, it has turned into a war of words.

Neither cruiserweight has been holding back.

“I will knock him out, Inshallah. Our last fight, I was not in good shape and yet I almost knocked him out,” said Kabbani (3-1), before taking the animosity a step further.

“I spoke to his girlfriend and she told me that Bayat was in bed for over a month after the last fight. This time, I will break every bone in his body.”

Ali Bayat (3-0) has been only slightly more reserved. They might both be new to the fight game, but they are sledging like veteran brawlers.

“First of all, I do not have a girl friend, and I have no idea what trash he is saying,” Ali Bayat said on Tuesday night. “His claims are baseless, because after I beat him and won, I had another fight after exactly 40 days.”

It has all the makings of a UAE grudge match, but Ali Bayat thinks boxing in the Emirates has a long way to go before it becomes as popular as in other Middle Eastern countries.

“If you talk Middle East, it’s a different story as you know,” he said. “Boxing is a big sport in other Middle Eastern countries but not so much in the UAE.”

According to the fighter, the lack of regular bouts can cause a problem.

“We have to focus on our training schedule, not worrying about organising a fight, it’s hard.

“I don’t have to worry what I am going to do this month or the next, I need to worry about training. Financially, there is not much support, not much media support, sponsors.”

Ali Bayat, who hopes to turn professional, sees Thursday Night Fights as a great opportunity for UAE boxers to progress. He hopes the fights will become a regular feature at the du Forum.

However, he is less than happy with United States-based promoters Lion Heart Boxing Promotions.

“I signed a one-fight contract, which was not what I expected financially,” said Ali Bayat, who called the initial offer “embarrassing”, but added that he did receive an improved offer.

“The only reason I am fighting is because my opponent Abdul Kabbani has been talking trash that he has beaten me, but that’s not true. I have beaten him in our previous fight.

“I want to prove him wrong in front of everyone now. I will show a class fight to the UAE fans.”

An encouraging sign for UAE-based fighters like Ali Bayat is that the International Boxing Organisation (IBO) recently teamed up with US broadcaster Showtime to create an IBO Middle East, a regulatory body for boxing in the region.

It is positive news for a sport that has seen the likes of Jiu-jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts emerge in this part of the world.

Ali Bayat refutes the idea that boxing is a dying art.

“Boxing can’t be dead because it’s a sport like football and it will stand the test of time,” he said. “Who is the highest-paid athlete in the world? Floyd Mayweather. What does he do? Boxing. His fight was watched by over 200 million fans worldwide, so whoever says that, they are wrong. It’s a classic sport.”

“IBO came here because there is a lot of potential here and they recognise that. I don’t know if the authorities want to build boxing here. If that is the case, that’s great news for us as boxers.”

Ali Bayat began his career as a swimmer and was part of the Iranian Olympics swimming team. “For some reasons I left swimming and just did nothing,” he said. “Put on a lot of weight. My father made me realise that I should not waste my talent and work hard and get back in shape.

“So I started kick-boxing as my workout to lose weight and that made me fall in love with boxing. So I kept training and learning and practicing and working hard to become a professional boxer.”

His boxing inspiration is David Haye, the British fighter, but his hero is his father.

“I have a lot of respect for [Haye]. I have trained with him for two weeks in the UK, he is a very good friend of mine. He is like my boxing idol.

“[But] my father, Abbas Bayat, is my hero, I wouldn’t be here if it was not because of him.

“He always keeps inspiring me and motivating me. He struggled and sacrificed a lot for me and he is an inspiration for me and keeps me moving forward.”

sports@thenational.ae

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MATCH INFO

What: 2006 World Cup quarter-final
When: July 1
Where: Gelsenkirchen Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany

Result:
England 0 Portugal 0
(Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)

Company Profile

Name: JustClean

Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries

Launch year: 2016

Number of employees: 130

Sector: online laundry service

Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding

THE LIGHT

Director: Tom Tykwer

Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger

Rating: 3/5

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

Company%20Profile
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MATCH INFO

Manchester City 1 Chelsea 0
De Bruyne (70')

Man of the Match: Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)

COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3EFounder%3A%20Hani%20Abu%20Ghazaleh%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20with%20an%20office%20in%20Montreal%3Cbr%3EFounded%3A%202018%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20Virtual%20Reality%3Cbr%3EInvestment%20raised%3A%20%241.2%20million%2C%20and%20nearing%20close%20of%20%245%20million%20new%20funding%20round%3Cbr%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%2012%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

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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.”