‘Boxing’s like a cult’ – meet the new promoter hitting the big stage

WBO lightweight title between Terri Harper and Natalie Zimmermann

Date: Friday, May 23rd, at Eco-Power Stadium in Doncaster

Izzy Asif exhibits the same level of self-assurance as a well-known boxing promoter.

He boasts, “I can talk the talk with whoever I need to talk to.” “I can negotiate with the street guys and then roll.”

Being the new kid on the block is never simple, though.

When he promoted his first show in March 2022, the Sheffield-born GBM boss laid out his plans to become a boxing powerhouse. His ambitions raised eyebrows when he was confronted with them.

He continues, “Boxing promotion is a cult; it’s so difficult to break through.”

Everyone looked at me as if to ask “who the hell is this British-Pakistani guy?” “I said I was in this business to be the best.

At Doncaster’s Eco-Power Stadium on Friday, GBM will host its first world-title fight between Natalie Zimmermann and Terri Harper, who will be greeted by 8, 000 fans.

GBM has seen a rapid rise in Yorkshire’s small hall shows thanks to TV and radio broadcast deals and Irish plans for another stadium event in the coming month.

Asif, 42, and his family emigrated from Rawalpindi’s mountainous Kahuta region, where Hamzah Sheeraz’s families are from and former world champion Amir Khan, who is now retired. Asif claims that there must be something in the water.

The first decade of Asif’s life was spent living in a five-bedroom home with his extended family while his grandfather worked in Sheffield steel factories.

He recalls that there were five or six of us in the room.

Asif fell in love with football at the age of 14 and sought to feel a part of a group. He still has a corporate box at Sheffield United, but his father forbids him from attending games at Bramall Lane in the middle of the 1990s.

“Foxes are full of racists,” my father said. Asif claims that he was a taxi driver and that all he heard was the p-word and the instruction to return home.

“He was one of the steadfast generations who accepted it and held on to their resolve.”

After a disagreement with a teacher, Asif became involved with “the wrong kind of people” on the terraces.

However, sport gave the rebellious youth a means of outlet. Asif and Joe Root both played cricket as youngsters for the renowned Sheffield Collegiate team, while Joe Root did for the future England captain.

Asif, who sold tickets for Blades’ games in his early teenage years, may have had an entrepreneurial spirit.

However, his life was forever changed when his younger brother passed away from leukemia in 2005.

Asif says as his voice begins to sag, “We were told my brother wouldn’t make it on a Monday, and he was gone by Wednesday.”

To me, he seemed like a son. He was 12 years old when I was 23 at the time. I was completely destroyed by it. I promised my father, who was beyond belief and heartbroken, that he would never work again.

Asif goes into great detail about his working-class background and recalls a time when he was unable to even afford to buy gasoline for his car.

When he placed a bet on a house at an auction, his business changed.

He coached at a neighborhood boxing gym while Asif built a property empire.

Amir Khan contacted him to assist with Billy Dib’s training for his fight in 2019.

The big stage’s flavor was incendiary.

Asif claims to have “ran the show” in Saudi Arabia, never to understate his contribution.

According to him, “Lennox Lewis told me that I had a talent for this promoting business.”

Asif initially obtained a manager’s license for British Boxing Board of Control, but he soon realized there was more to him.

GBM commenced in this manner. Asif acknowledges that some insiders have questions about the promotion company’s rapid expansion.

He claims, “I take risks and have a talent for starting new businesses.” I’ve made investments in both residential care and property, which have made my life very comfortable.

Asif thinks that his in-ring success makes him unique. How many other British promoters have a reputation for allegedly getting punched in the face? “, he says.

However, he now has his sights set on joining Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren at the top of boxing after starting out as a small hall promoter.

I would be a serious powerhouse in this country, he claims, “if they gave me the same amount of money as Eddie at this time.”

He continues to talk a big game and have bigger dreams in true Asif fashion.

He thinks that GBM could become a serious boxing player after just one event, one headline fight that draws a sizable following.

According to BBC Sport, GBM had previously had discussions with them in order to promote the bitter rivalry between former world champion Billy Joe Saunders and bitter rival Chris Eubank Jr.