Turkish boxing icon Sinan Samil Sam: Bull of Bosphorus

By Emre Asikci

ISTANBUL (AA) - Friday marks the death anniversary of a former Turkish boxer, Sinan Samil Sam, who died of liver failure on Oct. 30, 2015.

Sam, also known as "Bull of the Bosphorus", was born in the German city of Frankfurt in 1974.

He was a nine-time Turkey champion and Super Heavyweight champion as an amateur.

After defeating the important names of the boxing world such as Audley Harrison and Muchtarchan Dildabekow became the owner of the "Gold Belt" in the World Championships in the Super Heavyweight in 1999.

Sam claimed 217 victories and lost 18 of them in the amateur era.

Considered one of the greatest Turkish boxers who ever lived, turned professional on Apr. 15, 2000.

- First Turkish boxer to win title in heavyweight division

The Bull of the Bosphorus beat Przemyslaw Saleta from Poland by knockout in round seven to clinch the European championship in 2002.

With this win, he became the first Turkish to get this title.

Sam clinched his first 18 fights, including wins over British boxers Danny Williams and Julius Francis before tasting his first pro-defeat to Cuba's Juan Carlos Gomez in 2003.

Then, he lost the following fight against German opponent of Kosovo-Albanian descent Luan Krasniqi by unanimous decision.

- 31 victories in 35 fights

Turkish veteran stopped Denis Bakhtov from Russia with a seventh-round knockout to retain World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight title in 2004.

Later on, Sam defended his WBC title against American Lawrence Clay Bey and Uganda's Okello Peter before was beaten by Russia's Oleg Maskaev.

Sam captured his title again, defeating Brazil's George Arias in 2006 but he lost a WBC title to Oliver McCall in 2007.

Following three more victories against his opponents, Sam sparred with Italy's Paolo Vidoz and defeated him by majority decision to win the European Boxing Union (EBU) Heavyweight title on July 4, 2008,

The Bull of the Bosphorus played 35 professional games as he had won 31 matches, out of his 35 fights; 16 of his victories ended in knockouts.

The veteran boxer has died of liver failure in Istanbul on Oct. 30, 2015. He was 41.

Turkish Boxing Federation issued a message commemorating his death anniversary.

"We commemorate our World and European champion boxer Sinan Samil Sam with mercy and longing on his 5th death anniversary," the federation said in a statement.

Turkish Deputy Youth and Sports Minister and two-time Olympic champion Hamza Yerlikaya shared a message on social media to commemorate

"I commemorate our European and world champion boxer Sinan Samil Sam, nicknamed 'The Bull of the Bosphorus', with longing and mercy on the 5th anniversary of his death," Yerlikaya said on his Twitter account.