Zahir Raheem (born November 7, 1976 in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

) is an American

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

. Known as "King Raheem", his current professional record stands at 33 wins, 3 losses with 20 knockouts. After a stellar amateur career, which included a 213-4 record, 15-1 against international competition, and a spot in the 1996 U.S. Olympic team, Raheem turned professional on November 16, 1996, with a 4th-round KO win over Clifford Watford. Being among the less touted of the '96 U.S. Olympians, Raheem worked his way up the rankings slowly, before finally receiving a shot against

Rocky Juarez Ricardo "Rocky" Juárez (born April 15, 1980) is an American former professional boxer. He is a former WBC Silver featherweight champion and a multiple-time world title challenger. Juarez was known over his career for his aggressive fighting styl ...

. Raheem lost to Juarez. Raheem's next big fight was against legendary

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

Erik Morales Erik Isaac Morales Elvira (; born September 1, 1976) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2012. He is the first Mexico-born boxer in history to win world titles in four different weight classes, having held the WBC ...

on September 10, 2005 in the

Staples Center Crypto.com Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17, 1999; it was ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Morales was a heavy favorite and the matchup was viewed as warmup for his already scheduled superfight against

Manny Pacquiao Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao Sr. (; born December17, 1978) is a Filipino politician and former professional boxer. Nicknamed "PacMan", he is regarded as one of the greatest professional boxers of all time. He served as a Senator of the Philip ...

. Raheem surprised everyone by dominating the fight from the beginning by using excellent footwork and body movement, and never let Morales find his rhythm. Raheem won by unanimous decision, winning

Ring Magazine ''The Ring'' (often called ''The Ring'' magazine or ''Ring'' magazine) is an American boxing magazine that was first published in 1922 as a boxing and wrestling magazine. As the sporting legitimacy of professional wrestling came more into questio ...

upset of the year '' The Ring'' magazine was established in 1922 and has since named an Upset of the Year since 1970. The award, based on the magazine's writers' criteria, is given to a fight that resulted in an outcome that was highly contrary to general expectat ...

for 2005, and cemented himself as a

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

contender. On April 29, 2006, Zahir Raheem lost by split decision against

Acelino Freitas Acelino "Popó" Freitas (; born September 21, 1975) is a Brazilian politician and a former professional boxer who competed between 1995 to 2017. He is a world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBO super featherweight title from 19 ...

for the recently vacated WBO Lightweight title. This was Raheem's first world title fight. On July 5, 2008 Raheem was knocked out by a South African boxer

Ali Funeka Ali Mziyanda Funeka (born 28 March 1978) is a South African professional boxer. He held the IBO welterweight world title from 2014 to 2015, previously challenged three times for a lightweight world title between 2009 and 2010, and held the Sout ...

Amateur Highlights

Won the Bantamweight Olympic Trials in 1996, by defeating the following boxers: * Rosendo Sanchez (points) * Teaunce Shepherd (points) *Steve Carter (points) *Steve Carter (points), this bout was at the Olympic Box-Offs in Augusta, GA At the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, Raheem lost in the second round. His results were: * Jong-Gil Oh (North Korea) won on points *

Arnaldo Mesa Arnaldo Mesa Bonell (6 December 1967 – 17 December 2012) was an amateur boxer from Cuba, who won the silver medal for his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States. In the final of the Bantamweight (– 54 ...

(Cuba) lost by TKO 1

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Raheem, Zahir 1976 births Living people African-American boxers Lightweight boxers African-American Muslims Boxers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Boxers from Philadelphia Olympic boxers of the United States American male boxers 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople