Ali Raymi (born Ali Ibrahim Ali Al-Raimi; ; 7 December 1973 – 23 May 2015) was a Yemeni

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

and military officer. In boxing he is best known for his fight record of 25 wins and no losses, with all 25 wins by

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...

; 22 in the first round. On 11 November 2013, he set a new world record by winning his first 20 professional fights by first-round knockout. In 2014, he won the International Boxing Institute (IBI)

minimumweight Mini flyweight, also known as paperweight, minimumweight, strawweight, or super atomweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, boxers in the minimumweight division may weigh no more than . This is a relatively new ...

title when he beat Prince Maz. Also that year, he won the Universal Boxing Organization (UBO) World Junior

Flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing up to and including 51 kg (112 lb) for a title fight. Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of boxin ...

title. Raymi lived in

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

prior to 1991. He was killed in action by an explosion, possibly from a Qatari

airstrike An airstrike, air strike, or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighter aircraft, attack aircraft, bombers, attack helicopters, and drones. The official d ...

Yemeni Republican Guard The Yemeni Republican Guard (YRG; ), formerly known as the Strategic Reserve Forces (), was an elite praetorian guard unit in the Yemen Army. It was formerly commanded by the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh's son, Ahmed Saleh, and was most n ...

positions during the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in the Yemeni Civil War, on 23 May 2015 in

Sana'a Sanaa, officially the Sanaa Municipality, is the ''de jure'' capital and largest city of Yemen. The city is the capital of the Sanaa Governorate, but is not part of the governorate, as it forms a separate administrative unit. At an elevation ...

. He was ranked No. 6 by the

World Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is an international professional boxing organization based in Panama. The WBA awards its world championship title at the professional level. Founded ...

(WBA) at 108 pounds and No. 8 by the

World Boxing Organization The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing ...

(WBO) at 105 pounds at the time of his death.

Personal life

Raymi won a gold medal in Algeria for the Yemeni military, representing the

amateur boxing Amateur boxing is the variant of boxing practiced in clubs and associations around the world, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as at the varsity sports, collegiate level. Amateur boxing bouts comprise three ...

team, his purported amateur record was 117–2, all by way of knockout, although there is no proof of this record. Stories of Raymi's life including his military career were released by his manager Felix J Arno in an interview with ''The Ring'' magazine managing editor Brian Harty.

Boxing career

Yemeni News archives show Raymi started boxing at the age of 30 representing the Yemeni military, compiling an amateur record of 117-2, winning all 117 by KO which many believe to be embellished. He was a Yemeni amateur champion in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. It was during this time that Raymi started breaking Yemeni cultural norms by challenging foreign fighters, and participating in private unsanctioned fights for the next three years. Raymi grew to have a reputation in

as a loose cannon.

Setting the World Record

On 11 November 2013, he set a new world record by winning his first 20 professional fights by first-round knockout.

Prince Maz 2014 tetralogy

Prince Maz was the first fighter to extend Ali Raymi outside the first round, repeating the feat in three out of four encounters * RTD1, 2014-07-17 * TKO7, 2014-08-30 * RTD9, 2014-10-16 * TKO2, 2014-11-19

Death

Raymi, a Colonel in the Yemeni Anti-Terrorism forces, was killed in an explosion in 23 May 2015.

Postmortem ranking

In December 2013, Raymi was ranked in the top ten by two major boxing sanctioning bodies: seventh by the

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxin ...

and ninth by the WBC. Additionally, the IBO had ranked him number one in August 2014, while the WBO improved his ranking to sixth in January 2015, as did the WBA in May 2015. Raymi also offered $100,000 to then-WBA and IBO

strawweight Mini flyweight, also known as paperweight, minimumweight, strawweight, or super atomweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, boxers in the minimumweight division may weigh no more than . This is a relatively new ...

champion

Hekkie Budler Hector "Hekkie" Budler (born 18 May 1988) is a South African former professional boxer. He has held world championships in two weight classes, including the World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Organization (IBO) minimumweight ...

for a fight in Yemen.Ali Raymi takes aim at Hekkie Budler
, fightnews.com; accessed 8 November 2016. The WBA ranked Raymi as #6 light flyweight in April 2015 and only dropped him five ranking spots to eleventh place when he died.

Dan Rafael Dan Rafael ( ; born August 25, 1970) is an American sportswriter known for his coverage of boxing and baseball. Early life and education Rafael was born in Albany, New York. He attended Binghamton University, where he wrote for the school paper. ...

, senior boxing writer at

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

, criticized the organization for the "utterly and absolutely indefensible" ranking situation. He explained, commenting that Raymi's record was "hollow... considering he fought absolutely nobody of remote recognition or accomplishment as he fashioned that glittering but meaningless mark..."Dan Rafael
"Why the WBA rankings are even worse than I thought
Espn.go.com; accessed 22 August 2015.

Professional boxing record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raymi, Ali 1973 births Mini-flyweight boxers Light-flyweight boxers Flyweight boxers Yemeni male boxers Yemeni military officers 2015 deaths Deaths by airstrike Yemeni military personnel killed in the Yemeni civil war (2014–present) Sportspeople from Mecca