Khalid Yafai
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
 Khalid Yafai |
||
| Men's Boxing | ||
Competitor for  England |
||
| European Amateur Championships | ||
| Silver | 2010 Moscow | Flyweight |
Khalid Yafai (born June 11, 1989 in Birmingham) is a British amateur boxer, ranked 3rd in the world at the 52kg weight division.
[edit] Career
Like Naseem Hamed, flyweight Yafai is the son of Yemeni parents.[1] He currently lives in the Moseley area of Birmingham.[2]
In June 2005, he won a silver medal in the European Cadet Championships in Hungary, recording 4 wins before losing in the final to Russian Farid Aleshkin. He received the BBC Midlands 2005 "Junior Sportsman of the Year" award,[2] after he became England's first ever U17 World Boxing Champion,[1] when he won the World Cadet title winning the junior flyweight title against Luis Yáñez of the United States.[3]
Fighting for Birmingham City Amateur Boxing Club,[1] he became one of the youngest British (ABA) champions in December 2006 while still 17,[1] at the World Junior Championships 2006 in Agadir, Morocco. He lost in the quarter final to the eventual Cuban winner Alexei Collado.
At the 2007 European Junior Championships in Sombor, Serbia, he lost in the final to Russian Misha Aloyan.[4] As Britain's youngest team member at the 2007 Seniors World Championship, the 18-year-old beat his Armenian opponent Derenik Gizhlaryan, however lost to Violito Payla of the Philippines.
He then qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing in the 1st Olympic qualifying event in Pescara, Italy,[1] where he stopped fellow team mate Mo Nasir of Wales and then went on to beat the 2004 Olympian Igor Samolencko of Moldova to qualify. He then pulled out of the final due to an injury.
After qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Games he participated in the 2008 European union championships in Poland where he won a silver medal beating 2004 athens olympian Redouane asloum of France (RSCO2) in the semi finals but then losing a controversial 13-10 decision to home favourate and Beijing Olympian Rafal Kaczor.
At the Olympic Games, Khalid was beaten in the round of 16 by Cuban veteran Andry Laffita who went on to claim the silver medal. Khalid was absent at the 2008 European Amateur Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England but made a return in the GeeBee Championship in April 2009 in the 54KG class (bantamweight) and claimed gold beating European silver medalist Salomo N'tuve of Sweden.
Yafai lost to Andrew Selby 26:12 on 11 November 2011 to deny him qualification for the 2012 Olympic Games after the 52kg pair both reached the last eight of the 2011 Amateur World Boxing Championships in Baku. Yafai and Selby were scheduled to face each other three times to decide the winner, but Yafai pulled out of the second fight, thus handing a shot of the Olympics to the Welshman.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e "Beijing Olympics: British Boxing's 2008 class". The Telegraph. 2008-08-07. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/olympics/2466261/Beijing-Olympics-British-Boxings-2008-class.html. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
- ^ a b "Sports Awards 2005". BBC. 2005-12-05. http://www.bbc.co.uk/birmingham/content/articles/2005/12/05/sports_awards_winners_2005_feature.shtml. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
- ^ "4.World Cadet Championships - Liverpool, England - October 10–18, 2005". Amateur Boxing Results. http://www.amateur-boxing.strefa.pl/Championships/WorldCadetChampionships2005.html. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
- ^ "20.European Junior Championships - Sombor, Serbia - July 8–16, 2007". Amateur Boxing Results. http://www.amateur-boxing.strefa.pl/Championships/EuropeanJuniorChampionships2007.html. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
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