Mexico City 2017: Roland Ezuruike vs. Ali Jawad

The men's up to 54kg at the Mexico City 2017 World Para Powerlifting Championships will feature a clash of titans with Nigeria's Rio 2016 gold medallist Roland Ezuruike and Great Britain's 2014 world champion Ali Jawad facing-off for the first time in their careers.

Since finishing second at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Great Britain, Ezuruike has always claimed gold, including at the 2015 Asian Open Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan, the 2015 African Games in Brazzaville, Congo, and last year's Paralympic Games.

After winning both the world title in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 2014, and silver medal at Rio 2016 in the men's up to 59kg, Jawad is moving down one category for Mexico City 2017 and will therefore avoid facing Egypt's three-time Paralympic champion Sherif Osman.

But Jawad will still need to outperform himself if he is targeting gold. The British powerlifter, who has recently recovered from an injury, has a personal best of 194kg, while Ezuruike lifted nothing less than 200kg in Rio.

Head to Head

PERSONAL INFO

Ezuruike: Nationality: Nigeria. Age: 41

Jawad: Nationality: Great Britain. Age: 28

PARALYMPIC GAMES

Ezuruike: Games: 1 (2016)

Medals: 1 (1 gold)

Jawad: Games: 3 (2008, 2012, 2016)

Medals: 1 (1 silver)

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Ezuruike: Will make his debut at Mexico City 2017

Jawad: Championships: 2 (2006, 2014)

Medals: 1 (1 gold)

DID YOU KNOW?

Ezuruike: His sporting motto is that “with God all my goals can be achieved"

Jawad: He is a huge supporter of English football team Liverpool

More information can be found on Mexico City 2017’s website.