Bakhodir Jalolov

Jalolov initially intended to play football and his father took him to a sports school to fulfill this ambition at age 11. His father, a former wrestler, encouraged him to take up boxing instead. Jalolov said: "I later realised he wanted me to be a boxer and didn't like football very much". He had struggles early on as a boxer, but was motivated by a desire to "make his father’s dreams come true". Jalolov began boxing competitively in 2010 and by the age of 20 he was unbeaten nationally in the 92 kg category.^[7]

Jalolov took part in the 2017 Asian Amateur Boxing Championships, held in May 2017 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. He went on a perfect 4–0 run, beating Haipeng Mou and Do Hyeon Kim by technical knockout in the first two rounds, Mohamad Mulayes by technical knockout in the semifinals, and Kamshybek Kunkabayev by majority decision in the finals.^[8]

Jalolov went on another perfect run in the 2019 Asian Amateur Boxing Championships, and earned his place in the finals after beating Mohamad Mulayes by unanimous decision in the semifinals. Jalolov faced a familiar opponent in the finals, Kamshybek Kunkabayev, and won the fight by majority decision.^[9]

Jalolov took part in the 2021 Asian Amateur Boxing Championships as well, and earned his place in the finals with a technical knockout of Abdulrahman Alanzi in the semifinals. He faced Kamshybek Kunkabayev in the tournament finals, and once again prevailed against Kunkabayev, winning by unanimous decision.^[10]

Bakhodir Jalolov participated in the 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships, held in Doha, Qatar in October 2015. He earned his place in the semifinals with decision wins against Mohamed Grimes, Lenier Pero and Hussein Iashaish. Jalolov lost his semifinal bout against Ivan Dychko by split decision.^[11]

After an unsuccessful run in the 2017 AIBA World Boxing Championships, where he was eliminated in the second round by Kamshybek Kunkabayev,^[12] Jalolov next found success in the 2019 AIBA World Boxing Championships. After beating Tsotne Rogava by decision in the first round, Richard Torrez by knockout in the second round and Maxim Babanin by decision in the semifinals. Jalolov faced Kamshybek Kunkabayev in the finals and beat him by unanimous decision.^[13]

Jalolov reached quarterfinals at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where he lost to the eventual silver medalist Joe Joyce. He qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics in 2021 as a professional and was set to face Mahammad Abdullayev in the first round of the super heavyweight tournament. He thoroughly outboxed Abdullayev over three rounds and scored a standing eight count in round two, although he was unable to finish his opponent.^[14] Jalolov advanced to the tournament quarterfinals, where he faced Satish Kumar, whom he beat by unanimous decision.^[15] Advancing to the semifinals, Jalolov fought Frazer Clarke.^[16] Although Clarke was able to force a standing count, the fight was stopped in the third round due to a previously sustained cut above his eye which widened throughout his bout with Jalolov.^[17] Jalolov earned the gold medal after defeating Richard Torrez by unanimous decision in the final of the super heavyweight tournament.^[18]

In 2024, Jalolov qualified for his third Olympics, and second as a professional, where he won all his fights by a unanimous decision and won gold medal for the second time in the Olympics.^[19] After the completion of the Olympic Games, Jalolov made a statement on his Instagram page about retiring from Olympic boxing. Now he will continue his career solely in professional boxing.^[20]

Jalolov made his professional debut against Hugo Trujillo on 5 May 2018. He won the fight by a third-round technical knockout. Jalolov scored another stoppage victory four months later, on 29 September 2018, when he knocked Eduardo Vitela out in the first round.^[21] Jalolov was next scheduled to face Tyrell Wright at the Madison Square Garden on 27 October 2018.^[22] He won the fight by stoppage, after Wright retired from the fight at the end of the fourth round.^[23] Jalolov was scheduled to fight Marquis Valentine on 8 December 2018, in his last fight of the year.^[24] He scored the second first-round stoppage of his professional career, knocking Valentine out at the 2:29 minute mark of the opening round.

Jalolov was next scheduled to face Willie Harvey on 15 March 2019.^[25] He won the fight by a second-round technical knockout.^[26] Jalolov fought for his first professional title on 10 April 2019, when he took on Brendan Barrett for the vacant WBC-NABF Junior heavyweight title. He won the fight by a first-round knockout.^[27]

Jalolov returned on 12 December 2020, to fight Wilfredo Leal. Leal retired from the bout at the end of the first round.^[28] Jalolov fought in his native Uzbekistan on 3 April 2021, when he was scheduled to fight Kristaps Zutis. He beat Zutis by a second-round technical knockout.^[29] Jalolov knocked out Kamil Sokolowski in the fifth round on 18 March 2022.^[30]

Jalolov returned to the United States to face Jack Mulowayi on 10 June 2022.^[31] He won the fight by an eight-round knockout, flooring Mulowayi with a left hook. Jalolov knocked his opponent down with a left hook in the sixth round as well, and was deducted a point in the fourth round for excessive holding.^[32]

Jalolov faced the veteran Curtis Harper on 26 November 2022.^[33] He won the fight by a fourth-round knockout, after having knocked Harper down twice prior to the stoppage.^[34]

Jalolov defeated Ihor Shevadzutskyi in a 10-round heavyweight bout on 5 April 2025 in Astana, Kazakhstan.^[35]