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World class boxing professional Anthony Yigit receives O-1A visa

World class boxing professional Anthony Yigit receives O-1A visa

We are proud to announce that we effectively petitioned for an O-1A visa for world class boxing champion Anthony Yigit. Mr. Yigit is a World Champion Boxer, talent evaluator and industry influencer.

Managing Member of the firm, Sherrod Seward successfully presented the petition proving eligibility for the O-1A visa as a World Class Boxing Professional to USCIS. He provided as many documents as possible for each of the criteria satisfied by Mr. Yigit.

The Athlete

Mr. Yigit is a world class boxing professional with exceptional skills and experience in competition and combat sport industry contributions. Mr. Yigit holds multiple Championships, world rankings, and international level awards in his field and has over seven years of experience in competing in the highest level of boxing competitions from around the world and teaching and evaluating up-and-coming professionals as well.

The Petitioner

LPMG Global is a sports management powerhouse, owned and managed by Nelson Aiyelabowo and Malik Annur. Its principal office is in Tamarac, FL with branches in New York City and Lagos Nigeria. LPMG’s roster includes world title challengers Habib Ahmed, Raphael Mensah, Issac Ekpo, and 2008 Olympian heavyweight standout Onoriode Ehwarieme. LPMG Global features the best young combat sports prospects and established contenders from all over the world in a variety of disciplines such as combat sports, Boxing, and others. They find talented athletes with the ambition to take their career to the next level. They assist their athletes to define their goals and use their professional boxing network to put their clients in the best position to succeed.

The P-1 Petition

We demonstrated that LPMG Global, the petitioner would like to extend the O-1A status upon Mr. Anthony Yigit, whom they consider to be an exceptionally talented world class boxing professional.

In the petition, we presented Mr. Yigit as the world-class athlete he is by revealing his participation and excellence in international fights. We established Mr. Yigit’s claim that he is entitled to the O-1A nonimmigrant visa pursuant to “evidence of a one-time achievement (that is, a major, internationally recognized award)”, as an Olympic Games 2012 Quarterfinalist and the EBU European Union Champion in 2017. Apart from these, we provided compelling evidence on several criteria to support his petition.

International Rankings of Mr. Yigit

We provided evidence that the athlete is highly ranked internationally to demonstrate that the beneficiary has a reputation beyond a single country. We presented the following international rankings for the Mr. Yigit:

  • Mr. Yigit is ranked number five out of all of the fighters in his weight class in the entire world with the IBF and is currently ranked twelfth in the World by the World Boxing Council. His European Championship status is featured prominently throughout the evidence included with this petition.

  • We also included his professional boxrec rating which list him currently as the best boxer in Sweden, 12 th best in Europe and the 31 st best boxer in the entire world.

  • Mr. Yigit’s best rankings include 3 rd Best Super Lightweight Fighter by the International Boxing Federation (IBF), 5 th Best by the World Boxing Organization (WBO) and 7th best Boxer by the World Boxing Council (WBC).

The rankings and championships were indicated in the boxrec record attached with the correspondence. BoxRec or boxrec.com is a website dedicated to holding updated records of professional boxers, both male and female. It also maintains a MediaWiki-based encyclopaedia of boxing. The objective of the site is to document every professional boxer and boxing match from the instigation of the Queensberry Rules up to the present times. BoxRec publishes ratings for all active boxers and all-time ratings.

Internationally-recognised Awards

We proved that Mr. Yigit is a person of extraordinary ability in the field of Professional Boxing and combat sports by showcasing his awards, received domestically and abroad. The following are the awards won by him:

  1. Olympic Games at London (2012) (Quarter Finals)

    In 2012, Mr. Yigit competed at the London 2012 Olympics losing by a single point to eventual silver medalist Denys Berinchyk. This is a world level championship.

  2. EBU European Championships (2017) Super Lightweight Champion

    Mr. Yigit won the Super Lightweight Champion of the EBU European Championships in

    2017.

  3. World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) (2018)

    Mr. Yigit’s explosive and entertaining style enabled him to reach the Quarter Finals of the

    2018 World Boxing Super Series.

  4. IBF World Championship Challenge (IBF Mandatory)

    Mr. Yigit was an IBF Mandatory, which means, any contender for the Championship title

    should defeat Mr. Yigit in order to claim the title.

Media Coverage of the World Class Boxing Professional

The firm established that the athlete was featured in numerous publications of international repute, testifying to his exceptional talent. We provided the title, date, and author of the title. We also submitted an abstract of the articles to give a preview of the contents of the articles.

The articles included in the petition were:

  1. ‘I have what it takes’: Anthony Yigit interview – Boxing Monthly, October 24, 2018

  2. EXCLUSIVE: Anthony Yigit – “Still XCLUSIVE: Anthony Yigit – “Still Hungry…” Hungry…” – Boxing Social, October 16, 2019

  3. Anthony Yigit eyes American dream, drops to lightweight – World Boxing News, April 27, 2020

  4. Anthony Yigit named European Champion of the Year for 2017 – World Boxing News, June 05, 2018

  5. Anthony Yigit Decisions Lenny Daws To Capture Euro Title – BoxingScene, March 25, 2018

  6. Anthony Yigit vs. Lenny Daws Purse Bid is Won by Hennessy – BoxingScene, March 25, 2018

  7. Anthony Yigit vs. Sandor Martin Deal Reached, Purse Bid is Off – BoxingScene, June 24, 2017

  8. Ivan Baranchyk Vows to Win it All in World Boxing Super Series – BoxingScene, June 28, 2018

  9. Anthony Yigit-Ivan Baranchyk to contest IBF Junior Welterweight Title in WBSS – The Ring, June 28, 2018

  10. Purse bids canceled for Ivan Baranchyk-Anthony Yigit and Jason – ESPN, June 18, 2018

  11. What's the Golden Contract super lightweight tournament, and who's in it? – ESPN, November 21, 2019

  12. Swedish amateur star Flodin signs with Team Sauerland – Boxing News 24, August, 2017

  13. Yigit-Martin set for Sep. 30 in Sweden – Boxing Africa, August, 2017

Memberships & Performance in a Leading Role in Associations of Repute

We strengthened this O-1A visa application by providing evidence of Mr. Yigit's contributions to the field of Professional Boxing. Evidence of his memberships in associations of repute was shared in the petition:

  1. Olympic Games 2012

    Mr. Yigit represented Sweden Super Lightweight category in Boxing in the 2012 Olympic Games held in London.

    Olympic Games

    The modern Olympic Games or Olympics are leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games are considered the world's foremost sports competition with more than 200 nations participating. The Olympic Games are normally held every four years, alternating between the Summer and Winter Olympics every two years in the four-year period.

  2. International Boxing Federation

    Mr. Yigit is a member of the International Boxing Federation and participates in the World Championship Challenge organized by the IBF. He is currently ranked #5 by the International Boxing Federation.

    International Boxing Federation

    The International Boxing Federation (IBF) is one of four major organizations recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) which sanctions professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Organization (WBO).

  3. European Boxing Union

    Mr. Yigit is a member of the European Boxing Union and represented Sweden in the European Championships organized by the EBU. In 2017, he was declared the European Championship “Super Lightweight Champion of the year”.

    European Boxing Union

    The European Boxing Union (or EBU) is a pan-European governing body that sanctions championship bouts in professional boxing. The EBU governs the most-prestigious continental title in Europe, the EBU European Championship, in addition to their EBU EU Championship for competitors from within the European Union and the EBU EE Championship for those outside the European Union.

  4. World Boxing Super Series

    Mr. Yigit participates a lot in the World Boxing Super Series. He was also the Quarterfinalist at the 2018 World Boxing Super Series.

    World Boxing Super Series

    The World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) is a professional boxing tournament organized by Comosa AG. Each weight class features eight boxers competing in an annual knockout competition with the champion from each weight class taking the Muhammad Ali Trophy, named after the former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, and sharing a total prize fund of US$50 million, with winner of each tournament receiving US$10 million.

Proof of Having Received Significantly Higher Compensation Compared To His Peers In The Field Of Boxing

The firm provided conclusive evidence of the significant contributions made by the athlete to the field of boxing and combat sports nationally and internationally. We proved that, due to his exceptional performance, he is sought after by a number of organizations and commanded significantly higher compensation than his peers in the field of professional boxing.

  1. Contract with $250,000 fight purse for a single bout in New Orleans.

  2. Muhammad Ali Tournament

Mr. Yigit is a regular participant at the World Boxing Super Series, a tournament that is known for very high prize money.

The Muhammad Ali Trophy is awarded for the winners of the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS), a professional boxing tournament organized by Comosa AG. Each weight class features eight boxers competing in an annual knockout competition with the champion from each weight class taking the Muhammad Ali Trophy, named after the former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, and sharing a total prize fund of US$50 million, with winner of each tournament receiving US$10 million.

In conclusion, the firm established beyond doubt that Mr. Yigit’s continued presence is important in bringing the sportsmanship and professionalism of boxing and combat sports to the U.S. The fact that Mr. Yigit not only competes, but also volunteers, judges and evaluates individuals and exhibition matches was highlighted to showcase his overall impact on the sport.

We, therefore, successfully demonstrated that he is unambiguously qualified to be classified as a O-1A World-Class Boxer of Extraordinary Ability.

For more information on how we help support professional athletes and coaches with O-1 and P-1 visas, please contact our offices at 310-209-8545.