Sulieman “Slim” Albaher ditched the whole YouTube thing once he got a whiff of professional boxing. He immediately picked up a pair of boxing gloves and began working on his craft. Although he was relatively green, Slim managed to pick up six consecutive victories.
While everything has been going according to plan, Slim will now take on Salt Papi, a fellow YouTube sensation who made a name for himself. His stock, however, took a bit of a nosedive following his recent loss at the hands of Anthony Taylor. Disappointed but not discouraged, Papi and Slim will officially square off on October 14th.
Facing the flashy knockout artist gets the juices flowing for the Brooklyn native. But it also gives him a sense of urgency. Up until this point, Slim has trained under the watchful eye of Sadam Ali, a former world title holder at 154 pounds. With the biggest fight of his life just a few weeks away, Slim is making a change.
Andre Rozier, a world-renowned trainer, has been called upon. Since bringing the former YouTube star under his wing, Rozier has been magnanimous with his time. Although their partnership is still a work in progress, Rozier likes what he’s seeing.
“He’s developing,” Rozier told BoxingScene.com. “I’m trying to mold him into a good athlete of boxing. He’s coming along very nicely.”
At the moment, Slim’s number one priority is to take care of business against Papi. In the long run, fighting strictly YouTubers and media personalities isn’t something that completely interests him.
Although he got in the game late, he would love to separate himself from the whole “YouTube boxer” moniker.
Privately, Rozier reveals that Slim has deeper ambitions, one that involves fighting actual boxers. It won’t come easy, it also won’t come quickly but Rozier believes that Slim has a chance to make the transition. Having worked with the likes of Daniel Jacobs, Andre Ward, Sergey Derevyanchenko, and many more – Rozier is convinced that with his knowledge, coupled with Slim’s natural talent, the sky is the limit.
“He wants to be better than a YouTube boxing character. He wants to be a real boxer. He’s in the right hand. He has some good attributes. It just takes time but he has some very good attributes. He has to keep progressing.”