Mourad Aliev (born 31 July 1995) is a French

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 ...

. As an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

he won a silver medal at the

2019 European Games The 2nd European Games 2019 (, ''Jeŭrapiejskija huĺni 2019''; , ''Yevropeyskiye igry 2019''), also known as the 2019 European Games or Minsk 2019 (; ), were held in Minsk, Belarus, from 21 June to 30 June 2019. The games featured 200 events in ...

. While representing France at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, Aliev was disqualified from his quarterfinal bout.French boxer stages ringside protest after 'headbutt' disqualification loss against Britain's Frazer Clarke
Pippa Field, ''The Telegraph'', 1 August 2021

Early life

Born in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, Russia, and of Azerbaijani descent, Aliev moved to France at the age of six as a

political refugee The right of asylum, sometimes called right of political asylum (''asylum'' ), is a juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, such as a second country or another enti ...

and became a naturalised

French citizen French nationality law is historically based on the principles of ''jus soli'' (Latin for "right of soil") and ''jus sanguinis'', (Latin for "right of blood") according to Ernest Renan's definition, in opposition to the German definition of nat ...

at the age of 22.

Amateur career

At the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, Aliev was disqualified in his bout against

Frazer Clarke Frazer Clarke (born 7 August 1991) is a British professional boxer He has challenged twice for the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles. As an amateur, he won a silver medal at the 2017 European Championships; gold at the 2018 Commonweal ...

due to a head-butt. As soon as the decision was announced in the ring, Aliev had denounced an injustice. Later, the supervisor certified an error in refereeing and said that there is no error on the part of Aliev, but the decision can not be modified. Aliev staged a sit-in protest for an hour, after punching the ringside camera. Both actual and former

French National Olympic and Sports Committee The French National Olympic and Sports Committee (, CNOSF) is the National Olympic Committee of France. It is responsible for France's participation in the Olympic Games, as well as for all of France's overseas departments and territories. Histo ...

presidents supported Aliev against what they consider being an injustice.

Professional career

Aliev made his professional debut on 20 November 2021, scoring a four-round unanimous decision (UD) victory against German Skobenko at the Universum Gym in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, Germany.

Professional boxing record

Personal life

His father, Ozer, was also an amateur boxer, representing the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aliev, Mourad French people of Azerbaijani descent Russian sportspeople of Azerbaijani descent French male boxers Super-heavyweight boxers Southpaw boxers Boxers at the 2019 European Games European Games medalists in boxing European Games silver medalists for France Living people Boxers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for France 1995 births Russian emigrants to France 21st-century French sportsmen