Abass Baraou

Abass Baraou (born 28 October 1994) is a German-French professional boxer who has held the World Boxing Association (WBA) light-middleweight title from 2025 to 2026. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal at the 2017 World Championships and a gold at the 2017 European Championships, both while competing at welterweight. Baraou was born on 28 October 1994 in Aalen, Germany. Shortly after his birth, his family returned to their homeland of Togo, where he spent the first nine years of his life before moving back to Germany and settling in Oberhausen. Born to Togolese-French parents, Baraou holds both Togolese and French nationalities from his parents. When he was 13 years old, the energetic Baraou attended a trial boxing training session offered at a youth center near his apartment. Although he didn't like it all that much, thinking it was too boring, he was spotted by a trainer that saw him hit the punching bag and persuaded him to continue training with him. He became the first German in seven years to win a gold medal at the continental stage when he took first place in the welterweight event at the 2017 European Championships in Ukraine, upsetting the favorite Pat McCormack in the final. Later that year at the World Championships in Hamburg he reached the semi-finals of the welterweight tournament, where he fell to two-time Olympic medalist Roniel Iglesias. He was also a three-time national champion and a three-time winner of the prestigious Chemistry Cup.