Olympian Dennis Ceylan wins pro debut in Denmark, back on Kessler-Magee card

With several 2012 Olympic boxers making their pro debuts on November 9th and December 15th live on Showtime and CBS, I'd like to recap the success of others who have already debuted elsewhere.

This week I want to talk about Danish Olympian Dennis Ceylan. Ceylan competed in the 56kg division at the 2012 Olympics and appears to be campaigning around the same weight as a pro. He's currently signed with Kalle Sauerland, the same promoter of Denmark's signature attraction Mikkel Kessler. Both Ceylan and Kessler are scheduled to compete December 8th in Herning, Denmark.

Ceylan, despite losing the opening day of London 2012 to Ireland's John Joe Nevin, looked impressive in his September 22nd pro debut against Artsem Abmiotka in his home country. Ceylan showed good head movement and was very smooth and elusive. Less than 1 minute into the 1st round Ceylan was able to drop then 6-1-1 Abmiotka with a straight right hand followed by a left hook. For the remainder of the round Ceylan punished Abmiotka using straights, uppercuts, and hooks with both hands to the head and body. Abmiokta nearly looked out on his feet before the 1st round ended. Although Abmiokta got off his stool to begin the 2nd round, referee Soren Saugmann saw he was in no condition to continue and waved it off before the beat down resumed. Ceylan, less than 2 months removed from his early Olympics exit, already eyes a bright future.

John Joe Nevin would go on to win the 56kg silver medal at the London 2012 Olympics, also defeating reigning world champion Lazaro Alvarez from Cuba in the process.

Ryan Bivins is a staff writer for Bad Left Hook. Feel free to email him at rgbivins@gmail.com for input, questions, concerns, or just to say hello. Follow @sweetboxing on twitter if you ever have trouble getting your hands on some obscure fight Ryan refers to that you haven't seen.