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Mehdrud Takaloo-Margate Rock


BoztheMadman
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http://static.boxrec.com/f/f7/MTakaloo.jpg

 

Before I say anything, take a look at this picture. This picture shows a guy that is clearly not there to win on points. "Margate Rock" Mehrdud Takaloo was one of the brashest, most aggressive and entertaining and also hard-punching fighters in middle divisions in Britain in the early 2000's. Though he has his share of disappointing as well as devastating losses, Takaloo was a talented never say die fighter who had speed, good head and body movement and came to knock you out. But he could also win on points, if needed. He usually overwhelmed his opponents with his ferocious attack and punching power. Though he failed to win a major world title in his only attempt, a valiant one, he won the World Boxing Union title twice at 154 and once at 147. However, his prime ended in his early 30's and a rapid decline followed. His peak years were 2000-2006.

 

Born in Tehran, Iran on 23 September 1975 as Mehrdud Takalobigashi (he later shortened this surname of course), in 1981 he emigrated with his family at around 6 years old from his homeland due to the extreme regime change in 1979, after the Shah was overthrown in favor of radical Islamist Ayatollah Khomeini. An uncle of his father who was a general in the Shah's army was also killed and the war with Iraq started, hence they knew they had to leave. His father went to England first and they later followed him and settled in Margate, Kent. Hence, he later adopted "Margate Rock" as his fighting nickname. At school he was picked on and called a "Paki", which was used as a derogatory term for all people coming from the area between Middle East and India. He often got into fights because of that until his uncle, a former boxer, sent him to a local gym. When he was 9, they made him fight an 11-yearold and Mehdrud beat him up. It was then clear he had a talent for fighting and was meant to become a professional boxer. At 16 he was selected for the England amateur team, which also featured his friend Naseem Hamed. But when he applied for a passport to be able to travel overseas, he was rejected because his father was a refugee and so his spot went to somebody else. He then knew he had to get a British citizenship and he did, eventually. He started boxing professionally in 1997 and was trained by Jim McDonnell. He won his first fight against Harry Butler by TKO 1. After scoring one more knockout victory and two on points, he was beaten for the first time against Jawaid Khaliq, a tall and rangy fighter with power, who stopped him by TKO 4 in February '98. He also lost on points to Michael Jones later that year. After that he started winning.

 

He scored 8 straight stoppage victories before fighting for his first title, IBF Intercontinental one, against Howard Clarke. The fight was 12 August 2000 at Wembley and Takaloo won by UD12. He defended it once also on points before vacating it. On 7 July 2001 he faced the 26-0 Anthony Farnell for the vacant World Boxing Union title. He shocked everyone present at Velodrome in Manchester when he first sent Farnell down with a right uppercut to the body and then finished him off with a combination to the head before the referee jumped in to save Farnell from more punishment. It was just over 2 minutes in the first round and a sensational victory. He also scored a first round stoppage in his first defense against solid Scott Dixon, stopping him with one second left of the round. In his next defense he had to work harder to stop Gary Logan by TKO in round 10. He then vacated the title to challenge the WBO champion in the division, Daniel Santos. Like Takaloo, Santos was a hard puncher and a good inside fighter who could also fight smart. The fight took place at Cardiff Castle 17 August 2002. Santos had a 2 1/2 inch height advantage and a 2 inch reach advantage. Interestingly, they were only 17 days apart in age. Santos elected to box rather than slug it out and that was a smart tactic. He was successful in counterpunching and negating Takaloo's offense for most of the fight and Takaloo had problems getting through his guard in the first three rounds. Takaloo's best moment was in the fourth, when he landed a glancing left hook which hurt Santos and a follow up left which then sent Santos down; although it looked like he was thrown or pushed down, it was scored as a knockdown. For most of the rest of the fight, Santos fought smart and counterpunched and in the end won by the scores of 116-112, 116-111 and 117-111.

 

Having failed to take the big one, Mehrdud then wanted his old title back. He went to Belfast to fight Jim Rock on 1 February 2003 and won after an all-out war by TKO 9. He made one defense of the title by outpointing Dominican Jose Joaquin Rosa Gomez, also knocking him down once, 24 May. He then vacated the WBU belt again and had a fight at 160 against Volodymyr Borovskyy 13 September, which he won by TKO 3, in Newport. However, 24 January next year he experienced a shock loss at the hands of Eugenio Monterio, 11-6 at the time, who put him down once in the first round and won on points after 8 rounds. After that, Takaloo realized he was better off fighting as a light middleweight and returned, fighting Wayne Alexander in his first fight after that. Alexander was possibly the hardest hitter in UK in the middle divisions back then but Takaloo as always showed no fear, sparring with Danny Williams to prepare for the fight. It was a great domestic showdown at York Hall, Bethnal Green on 10 September 2004 and the WBU title was once again the goal. After a close first round, in the second round, Takaloo walked into a big left hook and was out cold. That was the first time in 6 years that he had been knocked out and the first time he was knocked out cold. He then went down another weight class and became a welterweight. After winning the WBU International title by UD10 against Turgay Uzun, 25 February 2006, he then won his third WBU full title and at his second weight class, when he beat Eamonn Magee by MD12 in Belfast 20 May. However, the bout was dull and Magee, recovering from a street attack, offered little resistance while Takaloo seemed content to just win on points, for the first time in his career. Also this success proved short-lived as he lost the title in his first defense to Michael Jennings, on points.

 

That was in April 2007 and Takaloo wouldn't fight until January next year when he again went back to his old division to fight Anthony Small for the vacant BBBofC Southern Area light middle title. Small was a lot rangier and fresher and he put Takaloo down three times before the stoppage in the 7th round by TKO. Margate Rock now seemed washed up and he retired but came back in 2011, as a middleweight. After winning one easy fight by UD4 against Steve Spence, he entered the Prizefighter tournament and dropped a split decision in the first round to the 15-7 Robert Lloyd Taylor. This was the last time he would be seen in the ring. His record is 26 wins, 17 by ko and 8 losses.

 

Mehrdud Takaloo was a capable fighter without a doubt and his defensive skills improved after the losses to Khaliq and Michael Jones. He was seldom in a boring fight and always brought excitement with his bobbing, attacking style and entertaining knockouts. In his prime and at his best weight, he was only bested by Daniel Santos and Wayne Alexander, although one can argue how prime he was against Alexander.

Edited by BoztheMadman
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