DETROIT — Eighteen-year-old Gheith Karim is now one step closer to fulfilling his childhood dream of fighting for a big title boxing championship.

Karim, born in Iraq and raised in Dearborn, was victorious in the “Detroit Brawl”, held at the Masonic Temple on Saturday, July 16. 

The boxing community has already dubbed him “The Southpaw Prince”, due to his skilled left hand technique in the boxing ring. 

Standing at 5 foot 9 and weighing in at 147 lbs, Karim knocked out his opponent, 28-year-old Dean Walsh (5’10, 145 lbs), just 1 minute and 40 seconds into the first round of his first professional fight. 

He most likely executed his knockout so swiftly due to the experience he’s racked up in the ring. Before his first big professional match, he had participated in more than 135 amateur fights around the country. 

Karim, who now lives in Las Vegas, where he is routinely training, attributes his success to his uncle Najah Shareef, who has been coaching him since he was 5.

“My uncle has supported me with everything along the way,” Karim said. “He has given me everything I need. He is constantly pushing me to train harder. He’s been there for me since I was a child.” 

It didn’t hurt that his uncle has been a boxing coach since 1996. He’s coached and groomed several young Arab American men to become boxers. With his nephew, Shareef said he saw something special from early on.

Karim with his uncle Najah Shareef in Vegas.

“I saw the look on his face the first time he came to watch me coach at the gym,” Najah Shareef recalled. “I saw how excited he was about boxing. I decided to give him a chance and he’s been working very hard.”

In Las Vegas– one of the hottest touring destinations on the planet– Gheith said he has no time for fun and games. He works out at least two times a day with his trainer, Majed Mahmmoud.

In the few weeks leading up to a fight, he will train as much as three times a day.

He also maintains a strict diet of egg whites, raw onions, chicken breast, broccoli and lots of water. 

Karim’s goal is to become a professional boxer, like his influence, Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin, a Kazakhstani boxer who currently holds the unified WBA (Super), WBC, IBF and IBO middleweight titles. 

He decided not to continue his education after he graduated Fordson High School, in order to focus on his goals. 

“I’m not into education,” he said. “I’m focusing on my career. I know this will take me far. Even when I was in school, I was always focusing on this. I would come back from school and go straight to the gym. I was always training. And it’s all paying off now. I became the man I wanted to become.”

Karim already has a team of people banking on his potential. His Las Vegas managers, Joe Gallarndi and Jeff Gromja, were so confident in his skills that they booked his first fight in his hometown of Detroit.

“These guys saw me at the gym and they said they saw something really special in me,” Karim said. “They decided to book the fight here in Michigan. They were really surprised. They liked the way I box and they told me, ‘You’re a pay-per-view fighter.'” 

Karim’s knock-outs have been heard around the world. He’s even garnered international support from the Iraqi community, citing two men in particular, Khalid Hindi Aljanbi and Abdulrahman Aljanabi, for providing him with financial and motivational support as he continues to train in Las Vegas.

He noted that he wants to make his home country  proud. 

“I’m trying to put Iraq on the map,” Karim said. “I want them to know that there’s something special in Iraqi fighters. I want to put the Iraqi flag on the title. I want to make the community proud.” 

He anticipates his next boxing match will be in August. His goal is to win 15 boxing matches in a row, so that he can get selected to compete for a championship title. 

He advises the youth in the Arab American community to stay laser-focused on their goals and to not let temptations take them off course. 

“Anything in life you want to achieve, you have to work hard and never give up,” he said. “Whether it’s boxing or any other sport, don’t give up. Stay away from bad friends and bad stuff. Focus on doing what you think is best for you.”