Ali Raymi


Ali Raymi was a Yemeni colonel and professional boxer. In boxing he is best known for his fight record of 25 wins and no losses, with all 25 wins by knockout; 22 in the first round.
Raymi lived in Mecca prior to 1991. He died in an explosion, possibly a Saudi airstrike on the Republican Guard positions in Al-Nahdeen district, on 23 May 2015 in Sana'a, aged 41.

Personal life

Ali Raymi won a gold medal in Algeria for the Yemeni military, representing the amateur boxing team, his amateur record was 117-2, all by way of knockout. Stories of Raymi's life including his military career were released by his manager Felix J Arno in an interview with The Ring magazine managing editor Brian Harty.

Boxing career

Yemeni News archives show Raymi started boxing at the late age of 30 representing the Yemeni military, compiling an amateur record of 117-2. He was a Yemeni amateur champion in 2004, 2005, 2006 & 2007. It was during this time that Ali Raymi started breaking Yemeni cultural norms by selling alcohol, and participating in private unsanctioned fights for the next 3 years. Raymi grew to have a reputation in Sana'a as a loose cannon.
On 11 November 2013, he set a new world record by winning his first 20 fights as a professional by first-round knockout.

Prince Maz 2014 tetralogy

Prince Maz was the first fighter to extend Ali Raymi outside the first round, repeating the feat in three out of four encounters
Thai undefeated champion Samson Dutch Boy Gym was a no-show at his highly anticipated scheduled fight against Román González. Despite Ali Raymi's repeated public challenges, even after Luis Concepcion pulled out of the fight vs Román González. Roman González chose to ignore Ali Raymi and take on Rocky Fuentes instead.

Controversies

In December 2013, Raymi was ranked in the top ten by two major boxing sanctioning bodies: seventh by the WBO and ninth by the WBC. Additionally, the IBO had ranked him number one in August 2014, while the WBO improved his ranking to sixth in January 2015, as did the WBA in May 2015. Raymi also offered $100,000 to then-WBA and IBO strawweight champion Hekkie Budler for a fight in Yemen. The WBA ranked Raymi as #6 Light Flyweight in April 2015 and dropped him five ranking spots to eleventh place, when he died, confusing many fans and writers. Dan Rafael, senior boxing writer at ESPN, criticized the organization for the "utterly and absolutely indefensible" ranking situation. He explained, commenting that Raymi's record was "hollow... considering he fought absolutely nobody of remote recognition or accomplishment as he fashioned that glittering but meaningless mark..."

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
25Win25–0 Omar MoxamadKO1, 0:4628 Mar 2015 22 May Stadium, Aden, Yemen
24Win24–0 Prince MazTKO2, 0:2719 Nov 2014 22 May Stadium, Aden, YemenWon IBI and UBO light-flyweight titles
23Win23–0 Prince MazRTD9, 3:0016 Oct 2014 22 May Stadium, Aden, YemenWon
22Win22–0 Prince MazTKO7, 1:5530 Aug 2014 22 May Stadium, Aden, Yemen
21Win21–0 Prince Maz1, 2:5517 Jul 2014 22 May Stadium, Aden, Yemen
20Win20–0 Akram JawfiKO1, 1:2710 Nov 2013 22 May Stadium, Aden, Yemen
19Win19–0 Ali SalemTKO1, 1:025 Nov 2013 22 May Stadium, Aden, Yemen
18Win18–0 Mustafa HumaidiKO1, 0:471 Nov 2013 22 May Stadium, Aden, Yemen
17Win17–0 Omar AwdanKO1, 1:1820 Oct 2013 22 May Stadium, Aden, Yemen
16Win16–0 Husam ShargabiKO1, 0:5811 Oct 2013 22 May Stadium, Aden, Yemen
15Win15–0 Yasin Abdulkhalik1, 2:057 Oct 2013 22 May Stadium, Aden, Yemen
14Win14–0 Asam DolbhanteKO1, 1:3430 Sep 2013 22 May Stadium, Aden, Yemen
13Win13–0 Luke HasanKO1, 0:2627 Sep 2013 22 May Stadium, Aden, Yemen
12Win12–0 Ali DridiKO1, 2:1114 Jul 2013 Yemen Boxing Federation Gym, Sana'a, Yemen
11Win11–0 Salman UmariKO1, 1:277 Jul 2013 22 May Stadium, Aden, Yemen
10Win10–0 Yaser DalbantKO1, 1:504 Jul 2013 22 May Stadium, Aden, Yemen
9Win9–0 Ahmed SaeedKO1, 0:5530 Jun 2013 22 May Stadium, Aden, Yemen
8Win8–0 Farhan ShebanaKO1, 1:4523 Jun 2013 22 May Stadium, Aden, Yemen
7Win7–0 Ahmed YousifiKO1, 2:3911 Jun 2013 22 May Stadium, Aden, Yemen
6Win6–0 Ahmad CisoKO1, 0:5530 May 2013 22 May Stadium, Aden, Yemen
5Win5–0 Amad Al-GadsiKO1, 2:496 May 2013 Yemen Boxing Federation Gym, Sana'a, Yemen
4Win4–0 Rashad HorunKO1, 1:1211 Apr 2011 Yemen Boxing Federation Gym, Sana'a, Yemen
3Win3–0 Sabin JumaKO1, 1:2330 Mar 2011 Yemen Boxing Federation Gym, Sana'a, Yemen
2Win2–0 Hamdan JaberKO1, 0:415 Mar 2011 Yemen Boxing Federation Gym, Sana'a, Yemen
1Win1–0 Hasan Wesabi1, 1:2925 Jan 2011 Yemen Boxing Federation Gym, Sana'a, Yemen-