He hasn’t fought a match in 3 1/2 years. Before that, he held the welterweight and then the light-middleweight titles from the World Boxing Union (WBU).
He weighs in still at the lower light-middleweight division and will slug it out September 17 in London with seven other hopefuls seeking to win a £32,000 ($51,000) Prizefighter jackpot.
The father of four says he decided to come out of retirement when his nine-year-old daughter, Soraya, complained she had never seen him box.
“Soraya has seen all my belts and trophies around the house and wants to know how I won them,” he said. “She has never seen me fight and has been asking for ages, ‘When are you going to box again, daddy?’
“I’ve been to her school a few times to do skipping sessions with the kids and I know they will all be cheering me on. I haven’t boxed for a while, but I never stopped training and I know I’ve still got it.”
Takaloo first won the welterweight title in just 123 seconds in a July 2001 fight. He lost it in 2002, won it back in 2003 and lost it again in 2004. He then debated whether to give up boxing.
“I went to see a nutritionist,,” Takaloo said. “And he right away told me after doing some tests that I was in a division above where I should be. So, I started eating properly and working hard and cutting out the junk.”
A few pounds lighter, in May 2006, he dethroned incumbent champion Eamonn Magee for the WBU welterweight title. That match went the full 12 rounds and was won by Takaloo barely on points. During that bout, fans booed both fighters because the fight looked more like a dance as the pair did more work with their feet than their hands.
The boxer’s real name is Mehrdad Takalobigashi, but he realized that was impossible for a ring announcer and soon shortened his professional name to Takaloo.
His family moved to Britain when Takaloo was six. One of seven children, he says his motivation for taking up boxing was a familiar one—to defend himself against anti-immigrant bullies at his London school.
Takaloo says his dad had two businesses in Tehran and the family lived well. But after selling them off and paying large sums to smuggle the family out of Iran, there wasn’t much left. His dad and uncle tried shop-keeping in Britain but failed. Then there was less money.