I was born in Zagreb on July 25th, 1997. I grew up with my mother and two older sisters in City of
Zagreb in part called Dubrava. Since I was a kid I was constantly active and always in movement. After
finishing high school I have decided to devote to a sport which I fully enjoy doing. During my school
ages I was always in sporting activities striving to win and improve myself continuously whatever I
was doing. That was the most important thing for me.
I started to practice sports since I was 8 years old. Before my 16th birthday I discovered and started
to train boxing with my uncle. I chose boxing because unfortunately I was a victim of family violence.
Boxing was a way out of my hopeless situation during those harsh days and just wanted to find a way to
defend myself. Boxing was the love of the first sight since my first training. Soon I joined Boxing
Club Lokomotiva and there my boxing career initially started. I was learning and improving my boxing
skills fast.
Boxing Club Lokomotiva was suspended in the period 2013-2014 and its members could not compete then.
In addition boxing popularity in Croatia was on a low level and I decided to continue my career in
Germany. In Frankfurt that year I won the championship and became Rheinlan-Pfalzischer Meister.
Later in 2016 I was disappointed to receive visa refusal for amateur camp in USA but in the same time
I had been given an opportunity to work with great coaches in Glasgow, Scotland where I gained a lot
of experience in short period of time. As I started to do sparring I realized that a style of
professional boxers fits me better than a style from amateur ones.
After short and successful amateur career where I got a lot of international experience I decided to
become a professional boxer so I can create a better life for my family and myself. In 2017 when I was
offered to fight undefeated local boxer from Bosnia and Hercegovina and in this way turn professional,
I accepted the challenge immediately without any hesitation.
In spite of being better fighter in that fight in every round, the judges characterized the fight as
draw. I haven’t lost hope afterwards and continued practicing, sparring and gaining experience by
training together with professional German fighters. In 2018 I have created good contacts with
positive people in sport with whom I have surrounded myself. These people helped me to improve my
fighting skills rapidly and gave me a chance to prove myself. One of the things that were most
important for me is not be the victim of unfair judges any more.
©Arijan Goricki