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, this ...

division. He is a

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

gold medalist and an

Olympian Olympian or Olympians may refer to: Religion * Twelve Olympians, the principal gods and goddesses in ancient Greek religion * Olympian spirits, spirits mentioned in books of ceremonial magic Fiction * ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'', fiction ...

Early life and amateur career

Haider started boxing at an early age, having decided to become a boxer after watching fellow countryman

Hussain Shah Syed Hussain Shah ( ur, ) (born August 14, 1964) is a retired Pakistani boxer from Lyari, Karachi Pakistan, who won the bronze medal in the Middleweight division (71–75 kg) at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. This was the c ...

win a bronze medal at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

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 The 1998 Asian Games (), officially known as the 13th Asian Games and the XIII Asiad, was an Asian multi-sport event celebrated in Bangkok, Thailand from December 6 to 20, 1998, with 377 events in 36 sports and disciplines participated by 6,554 ...

held in Bangkok, losing in the semi-finals to Indonesia's

Hermensen Ballo Hermensen Ballo (born February 26, 1971) is a retired male boxer from Indonesia. He twice represented his native South East Asian country at the Summer Olympics: 1996 and 2000. In 1996 he was stopped in the second round of the men's flyweight divi ...

. Representing Pakistan, Haider won a gold medal in the featherweight division in

1999 South Asian Games The 1999 South Asian Games (or 8th SAF Games) were held in Kathmandu, Nepal (for the second time) from 25 September to 4 October 1999. King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev declared the games open amidst a grand ceremony. 1069 athletes of the differ ...

. Haider Ali qualified for the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

in Sydney but was defeated 5-4 by

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

bronze-medallist

Ramazan Palyani Ramaz Paliani ( ka, რამაზ ფალიანი, born 21 August 1973 in Mestia, Georgia) is a Georgian boxer who has won World and European Championships in the men's featherweight division. He has represented Turkey, Georgia, and Russ ...

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 held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

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 in

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

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 The York Hall, officially known as York Hall Leisure Centre, is a multi-purpose indoor arena and leisure complex in Bethnal Green, London, and is situated on Old Ford Road. The building opened in 1929 with a capacity of 1,200 and is now an inter ...

on the undercard of Merdud Takaloo's

WBU The World Boxing Union (WBU) was a boxing sanctioning body. The original WBU was founded in January 1995 by IBF European representative, boxing journalist, actor and former holder of the title of Britain's heaviest man Jon W. Robinson. It san ...

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 Jamie Arthur (born 17 December 1979) is a former professional boxer. Born in Scotland, Arthur moved to Wales at a young age and took up boxing. He was selected to represent Wales at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester in the men's lightw ...

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 north-west Londo ...

, UK.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

Pro record
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Haider 1979 births Living people Pakistani male boxers Olympic boxers of Pakistan Boxers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Pakistan Commonwealth Games medallists in boxing Boxers at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Asian Games medalists in boxing Asian Games bronze medalists 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