By Cihat Gemici
Former cruiserweight world champion Firat Arslan (39-8-2), undefeated heavyweight Umut Camkiran AKA Anatolian Lion (7-0), and amateur European champion Fatih Keles (8-0) beat their opponents and made the local fans happy during Birol Topuz's boxing night in Istanbul, Turkey.
46 year old Arslan had tough times during his life, because of his father leaving home when he was kid. His brothers and his mother supported him at all times. His brother was an example to him for boxing.
Arslan started boxing at the age of 18. He couldn’t afford to go Turkey for the amateur championship and nobody supported him from his homeland. He became a German citizen and fought for Germany. However despite everything, he rejected the idea of having a German name and kept his Turkish one. And then he fought his way to eventually become a world champion.
For his home return, Arslan stopped Gezim Tahiri (13-3, 7 KOs) in two rounds.
Arslan stated after the fight to BoxingScene.com: “I am very proud to be here in Turkey, in my homeland. Thanks to Allah I fought in Turkey at least once. My aim is to be world champion again."
Camkiran knocked out Zoltan Csala (10-10, 8 KOs) for his seventh knockout in his seventh fight.
After the fight, he said: "My idol is Rocky Marciano. I can fight anybody in my division"
Keles, who defeated Bakhtiyar Isgandarzada on the card, is a big Floyd Mayweather fan.
“I wanted to show my boxing skills to everybody. That's why you watched six rounds of action, otherwise I'd just knock him out," Keles said.
