Khalid Yafai is a British amateur boxer, ranked 3rd in the world at the 52kg weight division.

Career

Like Naseem Hamed

Naseem Hamed

Naseem Hamed is an English former professional boxer.He is the former WBO, WBC, IBF, & Lineal featherweight champion, and European bantamweight champion....

, flyweight Yafai is the son of Yemen

Yemen

The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....

i parents. He currently lives in the Moseley

Moseley

Moseley is a suburb of Birmingham, England, two miles south of the city centre. The area is a popular cosmopolitan residential location and leisure destination, with a number of bars and restaurants...

 area of Birmingham.

In June 2005, he won a silver medal in the European Cadet Championships in Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

, recording 4 wins before losing in the final to Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n Farid Aleshkin. He received the BBC Midlands 2005 "Junior Sportsman of the Year" award, after he became England's first ever U17 World Boxing Champion, when he won the World Cadet title winning the junior flyweight title against Luis Yáñez

Luis Yáñez

Luis Yáñez is a US-American amateur boxer. He is recognized for winning the Pan American title 2007 at junior flyweight...

 of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Fighting for Birmingham City Amateur Boxing Club, he became one of the youngest British (ABA) champions in December 2006 while still 17, at the World Junior Championships 2006 in Agadir

Agadir

Agadir is a major city in southwest Morocco, capital of the Agadir province and the Sous-Massa-Draa economic region .-Etymology:...

, Morocco

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

. He lost in the quarter final to the eventual Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

n winner Alexei Collado.

At the 2007 European Junior Championships in Sombor

Sombor

Sombor is a city and municipality located in northwest part of Serbian autonomous province of Vojvodina. The city has a total population of 48,749 , while the Sombor municipality has 87,815 inhabitants...

, Serbia

Serbia

Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

, he lost in the final to Russian Misha Aloyan. As Britain's youngest team member at the 2007 Seniors World Championship, the 18-year-old beat his Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

n opponent Derenik Gizhlaryan, however lost to Violito Payla

Violito Payla

Violito Payla is an amateur boxer from the Philippines best known to win the Asian Games 2006 at flyweight.At the 2002 Asian Games he beat Tulashboy Doniyorov but lost to Noman Karim...

 of the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

.

He then qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics

2008 Summer Olympics

The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...

 in Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

 in the 1st Olympic qualifying event in Pescara

Pescara

Pescara is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. As of January 1, 2007 it was the most populated city within Abruzzo at 123,059 residents, 400,000 with the surrounding metropolitan area...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, where he stopped fellow team mate Mo Nasir of Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 and then went on to beat the 2004 Olympian Igor Samolencko of Moldova

Moldova

Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...

 to qualify. He then pulled out of the final due to an injury.

After qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Games he participated in the 2008 European union championships in Poland where he won a silver medal beating 2004 athens olympian Redouane asloum of France (RSCO2) in the semi finals but then losing a controversial 13-10 decision to home favourate and Beijing Olympian Rafal Kaczor

Rafal Kaczor

Rafal Kaczor is a Polish amateur boxer who represented his country at flyweight at the 2008 Olympics.He lost his debut to Mirat Sarsembayev 5:14.-External links:*...

.

At the Olympic Games, Khalid was beaten in the round of 16 by Cuban veteran Andry Laffita

Andry Laffita

Andry Laffita Fernández is a Cuban amateur boxer best known to win the silver medal at the 2005 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Mianyang.-Career:...

 who went on to claim the silver medal. Khalid was absent at the 2008 European Amateur Boxing Championships

2008 European Amateur Boxing Championships

The Men's 2008 European Amateur Boxing Championships were held in Liverpool, England in November 2008. They were the 37th edition of this biennial competition organised by the European governing body for amateur boxing, EABA.-Medal winners:-Medal table:...

 in Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

, England but made a return in the GeeBee Championship in April 2009 in the 54KG class (bantamweight) and claimed gold beating European silver medalist Salomo N'tuve of Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

.

Yafai lost to Andrew Selby

Andrew Selby

Andrew Selby is a Welsh amateur boxer fighting in the 52 kg Flyweight category and is ranked 6th in the world at that weight. He won gold at the 2011 European Amateur Boxing Championships in Ankara and had previously won a bronze medal at the 2008 European championships...

 26:12 on 11 November 2011 to deny him qualification for the 2012 Olympic Games after the 52kg pair both reached the last eight of the 2011 Amateur World Boxing Championships in Baku

Baku

Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...

. Yafai and Selby were scheduled to face each other three times to decide the winner, but Yafai pulled out of the second fight, thus handing a shot of the Olympics to the Welshman.