Said Ouali (born May 24, 1979, in

Agadir Agadir ( ar, أݣادير, ʾagādīr; shi, ⴰⴳⴰⴷⵉⵔ) is a major city in Morocco, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, just north of the point where the Souss River flows into the ocean, and south ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...

) is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

professional boxer at

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

. His nicknames include "Prince", "The Crowd Pleaser" and "The Maaseik Sledgehammer" (

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

: "De Moker van Maaseik").

Early life

Ouali was born in the Moroccan city of

, but his family moved to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

when he was only a few months old. Said and his niffauws ended up in the city of

Maaseik Maaseik (; li, Mezeik) is a city and municipality in the Belgian province of Limburg. Both in size (close to 77 km2) and in population (approx. 25,000 inhabitants, of whom some 3,000 non-Belgian), it is the 8th largest municipality in Limburg ...

, where Said and his brother Mohammed were educated in a strict

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

school. At the age of fourteen he ended up in the local boxing circuit, where he would also meet his current girlfriend of 14 years, An Colson. They also have a son, called Benjamin.

Early career

Not seeing any future in his Belgian boxing career, the then 20-year-old Said decided to take up boxing in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. In April 2000 he arrived at

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

, where he started the first phase of his American boxing career. As an amateur, he racked up an impressive 80-3 record (56 KO) in 83 bouts.

Professional career

Ouali fought his first professional bout on November 24, 2000. He then enlisted with

Mayweather Promotions Mayweather Promotions, LLC is a boxing promotional firm founded in 2007 by Floyd Mayweather Jr., after exercising a provision in his contract with Bob Arum and Top Rank that allowed him to become a free agent for the price of $750,000. Al Haymon ...

, the most prestigious boxing academy in the States, located in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

. His current record is 27-3 (19 KO). Ouali has claimed in an interview that his most prestigious victory was that against

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish ( masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines ...

boxer Hector Saldivia, who saw his 33-0 flawless win streak brought to an abrupt end.

Versus Bailey

The most highly publicized fight in Ouali's career was the December 12, 2010 bout against

Randall Bailey Randall Bailey (born September 13, 1974) is an American professional boxer. A veteran of the sport for over twenty years, he is a former world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBO light welterweight title from 1999 to 2000, and t ...

. The fight ended in a second round

no-contest ' is a legal term that comes from the Latin phrase for "I do not wish to contend". It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. In criminal trials in certain United States jurisdictions, it is a plea where the defendant neithe ...

when Ouali was thrown out of the ring by Bailey after taking some critical shots to the body and the fight could not continue.

Professional boxing record

, style="text-align:center;" colspan="8", 29 wins (21 knockouts), 5 losses , - style="text-align:center; background:#e3e3e3;" , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Res. , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Record , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Opponent , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Type , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Rd., Time , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Date , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Location , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Notes , - align=center , Loss , 29-5 , align=left,

Grady Brewer Grady Lamont Brewer (born December 22, 1970) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2015. A former IBA and International Boxing Council (IBC) Light Middleweight titleholder, he is the 2006 winner of the ESPN reality ...

, , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 29-4 , align=left, Bryan Abraham , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Loss , 28-4 , align=left,

Carson Jones Carson Jones (born August 19, 1986) is an American professional boxer at welterweight and the former USBA welterweight champion. He is also the former NABA light-middle weight champion, the former WBC Continental Americas light-middle weight cham ...

, , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 28-3 , align=left, Dumont Welliver , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , style="background:#ddd;", NC , 27-3 , align=left,

, , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 27-3 , align=left, Hector Saldivia , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ouali, Said 1979 births Belgian male boxers Welterweight boxers Living people Belgian sportspeople of Moroccan descent People from Agadir Moroccan emigrants to Belgium Moroccan male boxers American male boxers