Former boxing champion Besar Nimani has died aged 38 after being shot while leaving a restaurant in Germany, according to reports.
According to national media outlet Bild, Nimani was leaving a cafe on Saturday evening when 10 shots were heard being fired. He died at the scene.
Police have launched an investigation after the former champion was killed, with the perpetrators still on the run.
A statement from Bielefeld police read: ‘According to the current findings, the man from Bielefeld was in the area near ‘Obernstrasse’ near ‘Klasingstrasse’ around 18:00.
‘One or more perpetrators approached and shot the victim. The man from Bielefeld, who was a Kosovar citizen, died at the scene due to the great wounds he received.
Former boxing champion Besar Nimani has died aged 38 after being shot in Germany
Nimani won 26 of his 27 professional bouts in the ring from 2011 to 2019 and once held the IBF European Super Welterweight title
‘A major police operation is currently underway in the Bielefeld city area. The search for the perpetrator follows’.
Nimani’s brother, Berat, also announced the boxer’s death via a post on social media.
His message read: ‘My brother Besar Nimani was killed today in an ambush in Bielefeld, Germany.
‘May God join us in heaven with him. I will forever be proud of you, I love you.’
Nimani was an Albanian fighter from Kosovo but moved to Germany as a refugee escaping the Kosovan war in 1997.
He made his name in his country after winning 26 out of 27 professional fights before retiring from the sport in 2019 and once held the IBF European Super Welterweight title.
The German outlet also report how Nimani had previously gotten into an altercation that left five people injured after a shooting.
The tragic incident came 11 years after he was involved in a heated confrontation in Bielefeld
In August 2013, Nimani – along with his brother Berat and a friend – got into a disagreement in a Turkish restaurant near Bielefeld station.
The outlet claim that Berat hit someone on the head with a cola bottle but a pistol was drawn and fired.
Five people were injured following the incident, including Nimani.
On that occasion, the perpetrator was handed an 18-month prison sentence for violating weapon laws.