Even though Adam Azim has yet to box this year, trainer Shane McGuigan is hoping he can make up for lost time with three fights in 2026.

Azim, 24, has not fought since soundly defeating Kurt Scoby and moving to 14-0 (11 KOs) last November. 

He had been due to fight Gustavo Lemos in January, but both fighters suffered hand injuries and the fight was shelved. Azim then observed Ramadan. 

McGuigan hopes there could be an announcement about Azim’s next fight this week. 

“He’s in the gym. He’s training away,” said McGuigan. “He’s looking forward to his fight. We’ve been trying to get this opponent announced for the last couple of weeks. It’s nothing on our side. There’s been a few opponents we’ve agreed to and then they’ve fallen through and stuff like that, and that’s on nobody else apart from just the fighters themselves. 

“But we want to get this show announced soon and get him out, because he’s a young man that needs to get going. But he’s in a very good place. He’s learning all the time. He’s getting better. He’s going to be a world champion, I believe, before the end of the year. I think he will be. And hopefully we can get this next fight announced soon. And then he gets out another two times after that before the end of the year.”

Azim has No. 8 rankings with the IBF and the WBC. He is No. 7 with the WBO.

Azim has long been promoted by Boxxer and Ben Shalom, but he has yet to appear on the BBC since Shalom and Sky Sports parted ways.

“But if he’s going on the BBC, for instance, then that’s huge exposure,” added McGuigan. “And that’s what we signed up for. We signed up for that exposure. And that’s something that we’re really excited to get Adam Azim on that platform. And I feel like, with no disrespect to certain other fighters that might have gone on that channel, they’ve not got the attention that they could have gotten or that Adam will get. And I think it’s a great position for Adam to get a lot of attention if he’s in a really exciting fight. That’s why we’ve been trying to get the right opponent. And I think we’re close to getting it all sorted.”