Enrico Kölling


Enrico Kölling, occasionally spelled Koelling or Kolling, is a German professional boxer who challenged for the IBF light-heavyweight title in 2017.

Amateur career

Youth

Enrico Kölling started boxing at the age of 8. An early step in his career was winning the gold medal at the German Junior National Championships at the age of 17, in Altentreptow in 2007, as he defeated Alexander Onozke and Dominik Bösel in the middle weight division.
Kölling first achieved success at international level in July 2007, when he grasped the bronze medal following his defeat in the middle weight semi final at the 2007 European Amateur Boxing Championships in Sambor, Serbia; against Nikola Jovanovic, the only boxer from the hosting nation to win a title at the event. In the following year, 2008, Kölling competed at the Youth World Amateur Boxing Championships, in which a total of 359 fighters from 68 different countries competed in Guadalajara, Mexico. After beating four of his opponent, Kölling failed to get the gold medal in the middle weight final, which was scored 4:2 in favour of Rey Eduardo Recio from Cuba.

Senior

After he moved up a weight division, at the age of 19, Kölling became the German Nationalschampion at light heavyweight, beating Eugen Schellenberg, Dennis Gördel and Benjamin Schmidt.
In May 2011, Kölling secured his spot in the German National team to take part at the 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan between 16 September 2011 to 1 October, following his victory against his compatriot Tyron Zeuge in the Round Robin Team Tournament in Germany. Kölling entered into the World Championship as the No.4 seeded athlete in the 81 kg. division, gaining a bye in first round. He beat Erdenebayar Sandagsuren of Mongolia in the second round on points, before he was defeated by the eventual winner Julio César la Cruz after 3 rounds, 8-6 on points. Through his performance at this competition he qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
At the 2012 Olympics he beat Christian Donfack Adjoufack from Cameroon then lost to Algerian Abdelhafid Benchabla 9-12.

World Series of Boxing

From 2010 onwards Kölling participated in the AIBA organised "World Series of Boxing". In the 2010 series, he was part of the "Istanbulls" team. In this competition, he competed in the 85 kg weight division, winning 4 fights out of 5.
In 2011, he switched teams to compete for the "Leipzig Leopards". In the second season, he won 3 fights.

Professional career

After the 2012 Summer Olympics, Kölling switched to the professional ranks. In the same year, he made his professional debut.
In 2013, he won all 8 of his professional fights, including his first professional fight outside Germany, in London at the O2 Arena.
He won his first professional title in 2014, beating Paata Aduashvili to win the vacant WBO Youth Light Heavyweight Title. In the same year, he fought in 7 more fights, winning all of them. One of these fights lead to Kölling winning his first senior professional title, when he beat French boxer Patrick Bois to win the WBA intercontinental title in June 2014. He defended his title against Giuseppe Brischetto in August 2014, before losing it to Mirco Ricci in February 2015. The loss to Ricci was his first defeat in 16 professional fights.
In 2014 he competed in another 4 fights, winning all of them.
In April 2016, he won the vacant WBA intercontinental title by defeating the Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Cherviak. He defended his title in October 2016 against South African Ryno Liebenberg. The return fight against Liebenberg in February 2017, held at Emperors Palace in Kempton Park, was Kölling's first match outside of Germany since 2013. The second victory over Liebenberg meant that Kölling had won 23 professional fights out of 24. Following on from this, he fought Artur Beterbiev at the Save Mart Arena in Fresno, California for the vacant IBF World Light-Heavyweight title. Beterbiev won the fight in the 12th round by knock out.
2018 began with a win for Kölling, beating fellow German Robert Müller with a TKO in January. He then beat Giorgi Beroshvili by knock out in March 2018. In June 2018, he beat the Latvian Andrejs Pokumeiko. In recognition of his performances, he fought Dominic Bösel for the EBU European Light Heavyweight title. Kölling lost to Bösel in a points decision.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
30Loss26–4 Leon BunnUD122 Nov 2019Koblenz, Germany.png" />For IBF International light-heavyweight title
29Loss26–3 Dominic BoeselUD1227 Oct 2018Weissenfels, Germany.png" />For European light-heavyweight title
28Win26–2 Andrejs PokumeikoUD89 Jun 2018Leipzig, Germany.png" />
27Win25–2 Giorgi BeroshviliKO1, 2:073 Mar 2018
26Win24–2 Robert MuellerTKO2, 1:2620 Jan 2018Berlin, Germany.png" />
25Loss23–2 Artur BeterbievKO12, 2:3311 Nov 2017For vacant IBF light-heavyweight title
24Win23–1 Ryno LiebenbergUD104 Feb 2017
23Win22–1 Ryno LiebenbergSD121 Oct 2016Neubrandenburg, Germany.png" />Retained WBA Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title
22Win21-1 Oleksandr CherviakUD129 Apr 2016Potsdam, Germany.png" />Won vacant WBA Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title
21Win20-1 Serhiy DemchenkoUD85 Dec 2015Inselparkhalle, Wilhelmsburg, Germany.png" />
20Win19-1 Karel HorejsekUD817 Oct 2015Karlsruhe, Germany.png" />
19Win18-1 Vasyl KondorUD8Jul 18, 2015Gerry Weber Stadium, Halle, Germany.png" />
18Win17-1 Andrej MaurerUD825 Apr 2015
17Loss16-1 Mirco RicciUD1221 Feb 2015O2 World Arena, Berlin, Germany.png" />Lost WBA Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title
16Win16-0 Daniel RegiTKO627 Sep 2014Sparkassen-Arena, Kiel, Germany.png" />
15Win15-0 Guiseppe BrischettoRTD730 Aug 2014Gerry Weber Stadium, Halle, Germany.png" />Retained WBA Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title
14Win14-0 Patrick BoisUD127 Jun 2014Sport and Congress Centre, Schwerin, Germany.png" />Won vacant WBA Inter-Continental light-heavyweight title
13Win13-0 Mirzet BajrektarevicUD85 Apr 2014Rostock, Germany.png" />
12Win12-0 Paata AduashviliTKO325 Jan 2014Hanns-Martin-Schleyer Halle, Stuttgart, Germany.png" />For vacant WBO Youth light-heavyweight title
11Win11-0 Tomas AdamekUD813 Dec 2013
10Win10-0 Gyorgy MarosiKO326 Oct 2013EWE-arena, Oldenburg, Germany.png" />
9Win9-0 Haris CausevicTKO324 Aug 2013
8Win8-0 Armin DollingerRTD48 Jun 2013Max-Schmeling-Halle, Berlin, Germany.png" />
7Win7-0 Vygaudas LaurinkusPTS425 May 2013
6Win6-0 Leo TchoulaUD827 Apr 2013Alsterdorfer Sporthalle, Hamburg, Germany.png" />
5Win5-0 Josef ObesloUD623 Mar 2013GETEC Arena, Magdeburg, Germany.png" />
4Win4-0 Egidijus KakstysUD62 Feb 2013
3Win3-0 Attila BaranUD615 Dec 2012Nuremberg Arena, Nuremberg, Germany.png" />
2Win2-0 Ivan MaslovUD63 Nov 2012
1Win1-0 Pablo SosaUD629 Sep 2012

Personal life

Kölling is interested in football and supports Hertha Berlin.