Ziyad Almaayouf is the flag-bearer of a new era for Saudi sport – a young boxer with global ambitions, unshakable focus, and a growing profile inside and outside the ring. 

At 25, he’s undefeated, aligned with the management company of former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, and already a fixture on Riyadh’s most high-profile fight cards. He leads a new generation of Saudi athletes whose confidence and belief are built for the world stage.

In the Kingdom, boxing barely existed at the grassroots level a decade ago. Ziyad’s personal rise has coincided with a huge shift in Saudi Arabia’s influence on the sport, accelerated by Vision 2030 and powered by high-profile fight nights in Riyadh. 

International stars now regularly compete under the Kingdom’s lights, but local fighters like Ziyad are really giving this movement its meaning. 

“I want to be the first Saudi unified, undisputed, multi-weight world champion,” Ziyad tells Villa 88 Man, smiling. “But more importantly, I want to be the first of many.”

Ziyad, known widely by his nickname, “Zizo”, has regularly featured on blockbuster cards in his homeland, and has even graced the ring at London’s iconic O2 arena. He possesses genuine pugilistic prowess – time and time again in his burgeoning career, he has tasted victory. 

But it is beyond the ropes that Zizo’s impact is most palpable. He is a distinctly modern athlete – articulate, image-conscious, and aware of the responsibility that comes with being the first in his field. 

In a country that’s transforming rapidly, Ziyad represents a new model of masculinity. Calm, considered, and unfailingly polite, he speaks not of domination or destruction, but of legacy, unity, and purpose.

“You don’t need to act like a fighter outside the ring because you’re going to fight inside it anyway,” Ziyad says, pertinently. His own fight started long before his professional debut. 

Born to a Saudi father and Egyptian mother, he first discovered boxing in a sports centre in Riyadh, though not in any formal setting. While warming up for his weekly tennis classes, Ziyad noticed a small group training without a ring, gloves, or equipment. They sparred on a running track under the guidance of a single coach.

“I used to zone out and just watch them,” he recalls. “Eventually, the coach came over and asked if I wanted to try. I said ‘yes’.”

Initially, his interest in boxing was kept hidden. “My dad thought boxing was violent. I’m one of nine kids, and he didn’t want one of the youngest going around hitting everybody,” he laughs. “So my mum took me secretly. For a year, he had no idea.”

When the truth emerged, Zizo had already fallen in love with the sport. 

His days were structured around training. School, gym, repeat. Eventually, even his father was won over – not by victories, but by the values of boxing. 

“He didn’t care about sparring or knockouts,” Ziyad shares. “He cared about the person I was becoming – how I carried myself and how I used my time. That stayed with me.”

This sense of personal accountability continues to colour everything Zizo does, whether he’s fighting on home soil or stepping onto the sport’s biggest stages. One of those defining nights came at London’s O2 Arena in August 2023, a career milestone that brought unexpected clarity. 

“It was the first time I could just focus on boxing,” the sportsman reflects. “In Saudi, I always felt I had to do more – get the knockout, make headlines, be the story. But in London, I was just a fighter again.”

Away from the ring, he studied psychology in California, a subject that sharpened his understanding of pressure and the mind games all athletes play. “It helps you read people,” he says, “but mostly it helps you read yourself.”

Earlier this year, Zizo received a different kind of tutorial from one of his sporting heroes, Liverpool star Mo Salah. For many years, a picture of Mo was Zizo’s phone wallpaper, but in the build-up to his February victory over Jonatas de Oliveira in Riyadh, the two finally met. Mo’s advice was simple – when you enjoy competing, the performance follows. 

During fight week, Ziyad wrote himself a note that included the words “enjoy the crowd”. He went on to produce arguably the most composed display of his career to take the win.

“It was my best performance mentally,” he reveals. “I didn’t just fight well. I felt present.”

That sense of calm lingered long after the final bell, Zizo says. He also admits that he has always been the reflective type, someone whose focus is on the bigger picture. Boxing may be his craft, but his motivation runs deeper than the sport.

“If I was doing this just for myself, I wouldn’t still be doing it,” he says. “I’m doing it for the kids who never thought it was possible. For the people who will come next. For Saudi Arabia. For the Arab world.”

Follow @therealzizo on Instagram