Haider Ali (born 12 November 1979) is a Pakistani retired professional boxer who fought in the

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

division. He is a

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

gold medalist and an Olympian.

Early life and amateur career

Haider started boxing at an early age, having decided to become a boxer after watching fellow countryman Hussain Shah win a bronze medal at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

in Seoul. Haider became the National Champion in 1998 whist winning gold medals in the Green Hill International Boxing Tournament held at Karachi in 1998 and the Imam Khomeini International Boxing Tournament held in Iran in 1999. Additionally, Haider won a bronze medal in the 1998 Asian Games held in Bangkok, losing in the semi-finals to Indonesia's Hermensen Ballo. Representing Pakistan, Haider won a gold medal in the featherweight division in 1999 South Asian Games. Haider Ali qualified for the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

in Sydney but was defeated 5-4 by

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

bronze-medallist Ramazan Palyani in the Round of 32. Haider won a bronze medal at the 24th Kings Cup boxing tournament in Bangkok being defeated by Thailand's Suttisak Samaksaman 7-3 in the semi-finals. In 2002, Haider Ali defeated Thailand's Suttisak Samaksaman in the finals to win the gold medal in the Asian Championships which were held in Malaysia. He received the award of 'The Best Boxer of the Tournament' for the Asian Championships. Haider won Pakistan's first gold medal in the any Commonwealth Games by defeating India's Som Bahadur Pun by a margin of 28-10 in a four-round final in the featherweight division of

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...

which was held in Manchester. Following his victory in the 2002 Commonwealth Games, Haider received the Order of Merit from the government of Pakistan along with gifts such as a Jeep, house as well as a golden Kalashnikov rifle.

Pro career

In 2003, Haider moved to

Leyton Leyton ( ) is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the Ri ...

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

and signed Frank Warren as his manager and embarked upon a professional boxing career. During his medical, he was found to have two perforated eardrums. The fact that he was able to box at the level he had without it affecting his performance was notable. After undergoing surgery, Haider made his professional debut defeating Buster Dennis via points at York Hall on the undercard of Merdud Takaloo's WBU light-middleweight title defence against Jose Rosa Gomez. Haider went on to beat both Jason Nesbitt and Jus Wallie via points in his debut year as a professional boxer. However, he was not able to keep his early success going and lost his fourth fight against Stevie Bell via points. In 2005, Haider knocked undefeated prospect and 2002 Commonweight Games lightweight gold medallist Jamie Arthur out via a clash of heads.

Post-fight career

Following his retirement, Haider coached boxing within the UK for over 10 years and is currently the boxing coach at Energie Fitness in

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

, UK.

boxing record

References

External links

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Fiery Ali ready to deliver

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Haider 1979 births Living people Pakistani male boxers Olympic boxers for Pakistan Boxers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Pakistan Boxers at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Asian Games medalists in boxing Asian Games bronze medalists for Pakistan Asian Games boxers for Pakistan Boxers at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Hazara sportspeople Sportspeople from Quetta Recipients of the Pride of Performance South Asian Games gold medalists for Pakistan Featherweight boxers South Asian Games medalists in boxing Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games 20th-century Pakistani sportsmen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in boxing