Spider: I’m doing my thing in the ring - there are no limits!

Ibraheem Spider Sulaimaan…top draw performance on Saturday

RAPPER Jaykae has predicted Ibraheem “Spider” Sulaimaan – a coiled cobra of a fighter with more moves than Naseem Hamed on hot coals – will be Birmingham’s first boxing pay-per-view star.

The slick super-feather isn’t disagreeing.  Spider believes he destined to be a giant on the web.

So do his promoters Matchroom, who named the 24-year-old their prospect of 2024.  

And on Saturday, Sulaimaan showed why he has received such rave reviews by outboxing, outfighting and thoroughly bamboozling game Facundo Arce. The Brummie box of tricks did everything but put Arce on his...posterior.

At Nottingham Arena, the crowd was treated to Spider’s full shimmering, swaggering, switch-hitting repertoire.

Arce, with 18 wins, 18 losses and two draws, is no slouch, but the 29-year-old was simply peppered with shots from all angles. Spider, who completed the eight round distance for the first time, won by an 80-72 whitewash.

He has 10 brothers. There were times when Arce – one very tough individual – must’ve felt he was fighting all of them in the ring, too.

“This fight wasn’t finalised until Tuesday,” Spider, a former outstanding amateur, said. “I had no training for this guy. I was supposed to be fighting another guy from Argentina and I had him in my head. He pulled out on Monday because he couldn’t fly here. Arce was tougher than him.”

On paper, Arce looked a test: he had dropped WBO European champ Archie Sharp before losing on points. On canvas, it was a cruise for Sulaimaan.

Now unbeaten in seven – four inside distance, Spider believes he’s destined for very big things. So do many others.

“I’m just different and I’ve not disappointed yet,” he pointed out.

His style is certainly different, if not unique.

“There’s pressure, but that means I have to perform in every fight because of the expectation, you have to believe in yourself.

“There are always nerves, but you have to control them, turn them to your advantage. There are nerves that make you c**p and nerves that make you better.

“I’m just doing my thing and, with the will of God, anything is possible. I can never put a limit on it because if you put a limit on it you won’t achieve anything.”

Spider is, however, in no rush to conquer the world. “I’m taking it one step at a time,” he added. “I’m doing it the right way, looking at the complete picture. Three more fights this year, I want a title this year.”

Jaykae, a growing force in the fight game and Spider’s advisor, said: “It was a great performance – he fought the same in the first round as he did in the eighth. Spider didn’t really have to get out of first gear. He boxed his game.

“He can’t be Birmingham’s first Olympic gold medallist, he can’t be Birmingham’s first world champion, he can’t be Birmingham’s first amateur world champion. Those were all great achievements.

“But he can be Birmingham’s first pay-per-view star. In a couple of years I believe he’ll be fighting at St Andrew’s.”