The Libyan champion boxer, Malik Zinad, also known as The Trigger, won the fight that was held in the Belgian capital, Brussels, against his French counterpart Mickael Diallo, on the belt of the Word Boxing Association (WBA) continental organisation.
The Trigger achieved his 21st consecutive victory, by defeating Diallo in the tenth round of the match. The Trigger’s victory came by the number of points, to be crowned with the “belt of legends.”
In his professional career before this meeting, Zinad fought 20 fights and won 16 by knockout. He achieved four fights by collecting points, and he has not lost any fight so far, achieving several belts, the most important of which are the World Boxing Union (WBU) and WIF, and by this match he was crowned with the WBA belt.
Zinad has held the World Boxing Council (WBC) Mediterranean light heavyweight title since August 2021.
Zinad was born on the 19th of November 1993 in Tripoli, Libya. His father, a former boxer himself, began training him in the sport when he was five, though they practiced in the basement of their home due to Moammar Gaddafi’s ban on boxing.
However, Zinad left his country in 2013 due to the unrest following Gaddafi’s death, eventually settling in the island nation of Malta after his father encouraged him to follow his dreams.
Zinad made his professional debut on the 30th of October 2015, defeating Bogoljub Borišev via second-round technical knockout (TKO) in Attard, Malta.
After signing former world champion Donny Lalonde as his manager, he captured the vacant World Boxing Federation (WBF) International light heavyweight title in his sixth fight, stopping Attila Palko on the 24th of September 2016.
He defended the belt three months later, knocking out Beka Aduashvili in the German town of Bielefeld to retain. Zinad won the BBO light heavyweight title on the 25th of March 2017, stopping Bosnian journeyman Aleksandar Kuvac in just over a minute. He then upset Jermaine Asare two months later, knocking him out in the first round of their fight at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff.
Zinad made his London debut on the 12th of October 2019, dominating Michal Gazdik in two rounds at York Hall.
After compiling a 16–0 record, Zinad beat Russian prospect Timur Nikarkhoev in Brussels on the 28th of March 2021 to collect the vacant IBO Inter-Continental light heavyweight title. In his next fight that August, he scored a third-round TKO over Almir Škrijelj for the vacant WBC Mediterranean light heavyweight title.
