Mourad Aliev (born 31 July 1995) is a French professional boxer. 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 , translation: Time for bright victories! , nations participating = 50 , athletes participating = 4,082 , events = 200 in 15 sports , opening ceremony = 21 June , closing ceremony = 30 June , officially opened ...

. While representing France at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

, 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, Russia, and of

Azerbaijani Azerbaijani may refer to: * Something of, or related to Azerbaijan * Azerbaijanis * Azerbaijani language See also * Azerbaijan (disambiguation) * Azeri (disambiguation) * Azerbaijani cuisine * Culture of Azerbaijan The culture of Azerbaijan ...

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

political refugee The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another entit ...

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'', according to Ernest Renan's definition, in opposition to the German definition of nationality, ''jus sanguinis'' ...

at the age of 22.

Amateur career

At the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

, Aliev was disqualified in his bout against Frazer Clarke due to a head-butt. As soon as the decision was announced in the ring, Aliev had denounced an injustice.JO-2020 / Boxing: Mourad Aliev mistakenly disqualified, speaks of "scandal" - France 24
AFP/France 24, 8/1/2021, 9:21:18 AM 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 operator. Both actual and former French National Olympic and Sports Committee 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, Germany.

Professional boxing record

Personal life

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

References

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 gold medalists for France Living people Boxers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for France 1995 births Russian emigrants to France {{France-boxing-bio-stub