Khalid Yafai
| Khalid Yafai خالد يافعي | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statistics | ||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | Kal | |||||||||
| Rated at |
Flyweight Super-flyweight Bantamweight | |||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 4 in (163 cm) | |||||||||
| Nationality | British | |||||||||
| Born |
11 June 1989 Birmingham, West Midlands, England | |||||||||
| Stance | Orthodox | |||||||||
| Boxing record | ||||||||||
| Total fights | 18 | |||||||||
| Wins | 18 | |||||||||
| Wins by KO | 12 | |||||||||
| Losses | 0 | |||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||
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Khalid "Kal" Yafai (Arabic: خالد يافعي; born 11 June 1989) is a British professional boxer. He is a former Commonwealth Super flyweight and current British, IBF and World Boxing Association (WBA) Inter-Continental super-flyweight champion.
Amateur career
Like Naseem Hamed, 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 ABC,[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 20ian 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, but later 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 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 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 former olympic boxer Redouane asloum of France (RSCO2) in the semi-finals but then losing a controversial 13–10 decision to home favourite 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 54 kg 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 pair both reached the last eight of the 2011 GB Amateur 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.
In 2012, Yafai was named "Young Boxer of the Year" by the British website BoxRec.[5]
Professional boxing record
| 18 Wins (12 knockouts, 6 decisions), 0 Losses, 0 Draws | |||||||
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Type | Rd., Time | Date | Location | Notes |
| Win | 18-0 |  Dixon Flores |
KO | 1 (12), 1:49 | 2016-03-05 |  Genting Arena, Birmingham, West Midlands |
Won WBA Inter-Continental Super Flyweight title. |
| Win | 17–0 | Jason Cunningham |
UD | 12 | 2015-10-17 | Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham, West Midlands |
Won vacant British Super Flyweight title. |
| Win | 16–0 | Aron Juarez |
KO | 1 (8), 2:21 | 2015-09-05 | First Direct Arena, Leeds, Yorkshire |
|
| Win | 15–0 |  Isaac Quaye |
TKO | 1 (8), 1:22 | 2015-05-09 | Barclaycard Arena, Birmingham, West Midlands |
|
| Win | 14–0 | Cristofer Rosales |
PTS | 8 | 2015-03-28 | Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield, Yorkshire |
|
| Win | 13–0 | Everth Briceno |
UD | 12 | 2014-11-15 |  3Arena, Dublin |
Retained IBF Inter-Continental Super Flyweight title. |
| Win | 12–0 | Herald Molina |
KO | 2 (12), 1:50 | 2014-09-20 | Wembley Arena, Wembley, London |
Won vacant IBF Inter-Continental Super Flyweight title. |
| Win | 11–0 |  Yaqub Kareem |
KO | 3 (12), 0:30 | 2014-05-21 | First Direct Arena, Leeds, Yorkshire |
Won vacant Commonwealth Super Flyweight title. |
| Win | 10–0 | Ashley Lane |
TKO | 4 (6), 2:59 | 2013-12-14 | ExCeL Arena, Docklands, London |
|
| Win | 9–0 |  Santiago Bustos |
PTS | 6 | 2013-10-26 | Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield, Yorkshire |
|
| Win | 8–0 |  Michael Ramabeletsa |
PTS | 8 | 2013-03-30 | Echo Arena, Liverpool, Merseyside |
|
| Win | 7–0 |  Gonzalo Garcia |
RTD | 4 (8), 3:00 | 2013-01-19 | Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, West Midlands |
|
| Win | 6–0 | Jorge Perez |
TKO | 3 (8), 2:14 | 2012-12-08 | London Olympia, Kensington, London |
|
| Win | 5–0 |  Pio Antonio Nettuno |
KO | 1 (8), 0:52 | 2012-11-17 | Capital FM Arena, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire |
|
| Win | 4–0 | Scott Gladwin |
TKO | 2 (6), 1:05 | 2012-10-20 | Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield, Yorkshire |
|
| Win | 3–0 | Victor Koh |
PTS | 6 | 2012-09-22 | Odyssey Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland |
|
| Win | 2–0 |  Richard Voros |
TKO | 1 (4), 1:08 | 2012-09-08 | Alexandra Palace, Muswell Hill, London |
|
| Win | 1–0 | Delroy Spencer |
RTD | 2 (4), 3:00 | 2012-07-07 | Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield, Yorkshire |
Professional debut. |
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Beijing Olympics: British Boxing's 2008 class". The Telegraph. 7 August 2008. Retrieved 7 August 2008.
- 1 2 "Sports Awards 2005". BBC. 5 December 2005. Retrieved 7 August 2008.
- ↑ "4.World Cadet Championships – Liverpool, England – October 10–18, 2005". Amateur Boxing Results. Retrieved 7 August 2008.
- ↑ "20.European Junior Championships – Sombor, Serbia – July 8–16, 2007". Amateur Boxing Results. Retrieved 7 August 2008.
- ↑ McNeilly, Ian (26 December 2012). "Froch and Marquez head the BoxRec News Awards for 2012". BoxRec. Retrieved 29 December 2012.