Muhammad Ali (British boxer)

Muhammad Ali (born 20 June 1996)[1] is a British boxer who qualified to compete for Great Britain at the 2016 Summer Olympics that was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

He lives in Keighley, West Yorkshire.

Boxing

Ali trains at the same gym as Amir Khan, in Bury under coach Mick Jelly.[2][3]

Ali won the silver medal at the 2014 AIBA World Youth Championships, losing the final to American boxer Shakur Stevenson.[4] He was selected for the Great Britain team at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics held in Nanjing, China, where he competed in the under-52 kg division. He won his preliminary round bout against Masud Yusifzada. After losing his semifinal to Shakur Stevenson, Ali recovered to win a bronze medal by beating Gaurav Solanki of India.[4][5]

In 2015 Ali won the silver medal at the European Amateur Boxing Championships; he defeated Alexandr Riscan of Macedonia 3–0 in the first preliminary round, Armenian Koryun Soghomonyan 3–0 in the quarter-final and Spaniard Jose Kelvin De La Nieve 3–0 in the semifinals; in the final Ali lost to Daniel Asenov of Bulgaria.[6] Ali competed at the 2015 European Games held in Baku, Azerbaijan. He won his first bout against Alexander Riscan in the first preliminary round before losing to Vincenzo Picardi of Italy in the second preliminary round.[6] Also in 2015 he won the British amateur championships, beating Matt McHale by TKO in the 2nd round of the final.[6]

At the 2016 European Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament held in Samsun, Turkey, Ali defeated Bulgarian Daniel Asenov in the semifinals of the men's flyweight competition to secure his place in Rio as part of the Great Britain team before beating Armenian Narek Abgaryan in the gold medal bout.

Ali failed to pass his opening round in the 2016 Olympic Games.[7][8]

In October 2017 he was provisionally suspended by AIBA after testing positive for a steroid in April.[9] In February 2018 the AIBA announced he had been banned for two years and would be eligible to compete again in May 2019.[10]

References
  1. "Rio 2016: Great Britain and Northern Ireland's Olympic team". BBC Sport. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  2. "Amir Khan tips Britain's Muhammad Ali for the top". ESPN. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  3. Pye, David (16 June 2015). "Amir Khan tips Muhammad Ali to follow him all the way to the top". The Bolton News. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  4. "Keighley boxer Muhammad Ali claims Youth Olympic bronze". Telegraph & Argus. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  5. Hope, Nick (25 August 2014). "Youth Olympics: Muhammad Ali and Peter McGrail win bronze". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  6. "Muhammad Ali - 52 kg". AIBA. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  7. "Olympic boxing: Nicola Adams among eight British qualifiers for Rio 2016". BBC Sport. 15 April 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  8. Crowther, Mike (21 April 2016). "Keighley boxer Muhammad Ali sets sights on Olympic gold". Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  9. "Team GB's Muhammad Ali tests positive and set for lengthy boxing ban". The Guardian. 26 October 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  10. "British boxer Muhammad Ali gets two-year ban for positive steroid test". The Guardian. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.