Billy Dib.

Statistics
Real name	Bilal Dib
Nickname(s)	Billy The Kid
Rated at	Super featherweight
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in)
Nationality	Australian
Birth date	May 8, 1985 (1985-17-08) (age 23)
Birth place	Sydney, Australia
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	24
Wins	22
Wins by KO	11
Losses	1
Draws	0
No contests	1

Billy "The Kid" Dib Sydney-based former IBO super featherweight champion.

Contents 1 Early years 2 Amateur career 3 Professional career 3.1 IBO Super Featherweight Title 3.2 WBO Featherweight Title 3.3 Return after his first loss 3.4 Superboxer 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Early years

Bilal Dib was born on the 17th of August, 1985 at Sutherland Hospital in Sydney, Australia.^[1] He has suffered from chronic asthma since birth, and he spent the first six months of his life in an incubator fighting the ailment, taking up boxing at the age of 12 in order to try to overcome the condition.^[1][2][3] His parents had emigrated to Australia from Lebanon, and owned a small greengrocer store in Engadine.^[1]

[edit] Amateur career

After starting boxing at the age of 12 at the local Police and Community Youth Club (PCYC), he soon began appearing in amateur competitions, winning 98 out of 133 bouts. During this period he was the Australian Champion on three occasions, and he was selected to train at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).^[1] However, his preparation for the 2004 Olympic Games was hindered by a motorcycle accident, and he was not selected for the Australian team. He subsequently turned down an offer to join Lebanon's Olympic team, arguing that he had been representing Australia, and that he intended to continue to do so.^[4]

After missing out on the Olympics Dib traveled to Sheffield to train with Prince Naseem Hamed, who encouraged him to turn professional.^[1]

[edit] Professional career

Billy Dib's first profession fight was against Chad Roy Naidu in August, 2004, when he was 18 years old.^[5][6] He won, and subsequently went on to win the next 20 bouts, not losing until October, 2008, against Steven Luevano.^[6] Dib traveled to the United States in 2006, after being offered the opportunity to train with Mike Tyson. While there he met Shane Mosley, and this led to Dib signing with Golden Boy Promotions.^[1]

[edit] IBO Super Featherweight Title

On July 30, 2008, Billy Dib faced South African Zolani Marali for the IBO super featherweight title. Although Marali had a greater reach, and despite being knocked down in the third round, Dib was able to win on a unanimous points decision (116-114, 116-112 and 114-113), allowing him to capture the title.^[7]

[edit] WBO Featherweight Title

Billy Dib fought against Steven Luevano, the WBO featherweight champion, on 18 October, 2007. He was unsuccessful, losing to Luevano in a unanimous points decision. After the match Dib announced that he would come back as a better boxer, stating that he would learn from the experience.^[8]

[edit] Return after his first loss

On Wednesday, March 11th, 2009, at the Campbelltown Cube in Sydney, Dib returned to the ring and beat 22 year old local Campbelltown fighter Davey Brown Jr via an 8th round technical decision after Browne was cut above both eyes. The first cut opened after an accidental head clash, while the second came from a clean punch. The fight was stopped on the first cut and went to the scorecards.

[edit] Superboxer

On the 9th of July 2009, Billy Dib and Kenichi Yamaguchi were the main event on One HD's first Superboxer promotion. After being knocked down during the opening stages of the first round, Dib rallied late in the piece to down Yamaguchi.^[9] While Yamaguchi was on his knees, Dib hit him with a late left-handed punch,^[9][10] and although Yamaguchi returned to his feet, he appeared unsteady, leading the referee to stop the fight at 2:59 seconds of the first round in Dib's favour.^[9]

Questions regarding the decision were raised after the fight, with some expressing the belief that the punch constituted a foul, and thus Yamaguchi should either have been given time to recover, the fight declared a no-contest, or Dib should have been disqualified.^[10] Subsequently, the NSW Boxing Authority announced that they are undertaking an investigation into the events,^[11] and at their monthly board meeting on August 4, the officials determined to change the result to a no-contest.^[12]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Professional boxing record for Billy Dib from Boxrec