Early days
One month. That was the plan.
October 2018. Constantin Ursu is 18. As soon as his passport comes through, he leaves Chișinău, Moldova, for Devon. No money. No job. Not a word of English.
An old friend from Moldova, already living in Plymouth, had told Marlee about a lad back home: take him now, or lose him. Marlee and friends met him at the airport. For the first three months, coach and fighter talked through Google Translate.
“I actually only came for a one-month training camp. But this has been nearly eight years now.”
He ran to a 6am building job because he didn't know how to use the bus, then trained after work. A bed went up in the office at Intense, and he lived in the gym for more than six months. His first boxing money came from coaching the kids, a tenner a time.
Learning the trade
Living in the gym. Literally.
Marlee doesn't hand a fighter a style off the shelf. Marlee studies the boxer in front of him, builds what suits him, then drills it until it's automatic.
“I teach the individual what suits them best, not what worked for me or for a particular boxer.”
So the work started: pads, bags, sparring rounds and the hours in between. Constantin trained alongside Marlee's other young lads, including Lewis Everson and Connor Adaway.
In 2019 Marlee earned a professional licence from the British Boxing Board of Control and turned over Marlee's first pros. Constantin was one of them. The lad who came for a month was about to turn pro.
Walking out with Marlee
Pro debut. His new home city. Hand raised.
On 22 November 2019, aged 19, Constantin made his professional debut at the Guildhall in Plymouth, the city that had taken him in a year earlier.
Black and gold shorts with CONSTANTIN across the waistband. Marlee leading the walk to the ring. Four rounds later he had the win on points, and the first number on a record that now reads 16-0.
Building the record
Small halls. No TV. Win after win.
There was no shortcut. For years Constantin did his business on the small-hall circuit, with no major promotional backing and no television, and he kept on winning.
Plymouth, York Hall, Swindon, Brentwood. Every camp planned around the next opponent, every fight night with Marlee in the corner.
- Pro debutGuildhall, Plymouth · points win over 4 rounds1-0
- First fight in LondonYork Hall, Bethnal Green2-0
- Southern Area championGuildhall, Plymouth · first pro title, won by stoppage at home8-0
- Commonwealth Silver championBrentwood Centre, Essex9-0
- Final eliminator wonBrentwood Centre · a second-round stoppage, exactly as Marlee’s game plan predicted12-0
Killer. Champion.
Sixteen fights. Sixteen wins. Seven knockouts.
- British champion
- Commonwealth champion
- WBO European · 2025
- Commonwealth Silver · 2023
- Southern Area · 2023
March 2025, York Hall: the Commonwealth title, by seventh-round knockout. The plan was the left hand. The left hand landed.
“Constantin got his range and timed the shot perfectly. The left was exactly what we believed would hurt him.”
Then he kept going. In February 2026, in his first DAZN main event, he became British champion in Derby, the first Moldova-born holder of the belt. Queensberry signed him. In August 2026 he defended the British and Commonwealth titles at The O2.
From a bed in the gym office to The O2. 16-0. A killer in the ring, and still with Marlee in the corner.
- Commonwealth championYork Hall · seventh-round knockout13-0
- WBO European titleYork Hall · won over 12 rounds, Commonwealth belt kept14-0
- British championVaillant Live, Derby · unanimous decision over 12, live on DAZN15-0
- Defends British & CommonwealthThe O2, London · eighth-round stoppage, live on DAZN16-0
