Paul McCreath – Germany has turned out most of the top heavyweight boxers in recent years and now we have another rising fast. Many of these boxers are not actually German but they fight there almost exclusively and are well accepted by German fans. We had the Klitschko brothers, Vlad Virchis and Alex Dimitrenko from Ukraine, Alex Povetkin, Nicolay Valuev and now Denis Boytsov from Russia. Ruslan Chagaev came from Uzbekistan, Francesco Pianeta from Italian extraction and now we have Manuel Charr from Lebanon..
You may not be familiar yet with the name Manuel Charr but I can almost guarantee he will be well known soon. He was born in Lebanon to Syrian parents who escaped the civil war and took their 4 year old son with them to Germany. They have all lived there ever since but his parents were illegal immigrants and this has caused some problems for Manuel and slowed the progress of his pro career. After starting in kick boxing and then having a short eleven fight amateur career as a boxer he turned pro with Sauerland in May of 2005. Because he lacked German citizenship, a passport or work permit he could not get paid for any of his first seven fights.
Manuel still managed to attract attention by his seventh fight when he was matched with the former Cuban amateur star Pedro Carrion and came away with a surprising 8 round majority decision. His legal problems then caused a break in his career of nearly two years while he sorted things out but finally he resumed boxing in 2008 this time under the Universum banner. Now he could get paid. After 3 more wins he got his big break when he was matched with his friend Gbenga Oloukun who was undefeated in 16 fights. Charr scored an upset 7 round KO to suddenly jump into the spotlight. In his very next fight Oloukun bounced back and outpointed Lamon Brewster over 8 rounds.
In October of last year Manuel took on his first name that would be recognizable to most American fans. Veteran trial horse Sherman Williams was outpointed in 10 rounds. Finally just a few days ago Charr added his most important win yet when he stopped veteran contender Owen Beck in the 10th round. Beck has not been too active lately with only two easy wins in 2009 but he is still only 33 years old and brought a 29-3 record into the fight. The Beck victory brought Charr’s record to 14-0 with 7 KOs.
He is more boxer puncher than slugger and likes to hold his hands high and catch incoming punches off his gloves. He has fast hands with a snappy jab and quick combinations. His power is just enough to keep his opponents honest and to hurt many of them. He has an aggressive style and throws lots of punches. Manuel also has youth on his side. Although already a pro for nearly 5 years he is still only 25 years old. He stands 6 foot 3 and 1/2 inches tall and weighs between 236 and 250 pounds. Recently he has been around the low 240s most of the time. This would suggest he might be a bit overweight but he is not. He doesn’t have the cut body of say David Haye but he has a solid stocky build. You can catch some of his fights on YouTube.
From the very beginning first with Sauerland and later Universum he has had the advantage of sparring with all the top heavyweights in those two stables as well as the expertise of their top trainers. With plenty of time left to develop still further we should be seeing Manuel Charr in some very important matches in the very near future.