Written by Yamin Zakaria exclusively for afghan-web.com
Published on June 19, 2012
Hamid Rahimi was born in Kabul in 1983. Due to the ongoing civil war, Hamid and his family fled Afghanistan in 1992, and settled in Germany. At the age of 14, Hamid started to take an interest in boxing and martial arts which were partly induced by facing some level of hostility at school from fellow pupils; migrants who can barely speak the language are always an easy target.
Soon he realised his talent and love for the sport grew. It was the renowned trainer, Owen Reece, who discovered Hamid Rahimi’s natural talent in 2003, and coached him into professional boxing. In 2006, at the age of 23, he entered the boxing ring as a professional, fighting in the middle weight division, using the name of “The Dragon”, which seems to reflect his martial arts background. Between 1998 and 2002, he trained in Thai boxing and spent some time training in Thailand. When asked why the name dragon, he says: “A dragon is an adaptable creature, it can cope with water, wind and fire. Likewise, I can handle every opponent and every situation in the ring.”
In February 2012, he won the World Boxing Union (WBU) Championship, by defeating his Belarusian rival in Hamburg. Subsequently, he visited Kabul and he was received by the Afghan Olympic committee, and the youth as a national hero. Later, President Hamid Karzai decorated the world boxing champion, with the Mir Masjidi Khan high government medal. Mir Masjidi was a famous Afghan hero who fought against the British during the first Anglo-Afghan War.
To date, his impeccable professional boxing record stands with 20 wins, which includes 9 knock outs and only 1 loss. After his success in winning the World Championship, Rahimi says he is ready to face a well-known American boxer, and bring the fight to his home soil in Afghanistan; that would no doubt inspire a new generation of Afghan boxers and contribute towards building, national unity and peace. Hence, he wants to host the fight in Kabul under the banner of “Fighting For Peace”.
Hamid Rahimi spends his spare time with his family and friends, he is also a good looking handsome man, almost 6 feet tall; for sure he has a bright future ahead of him regardless of the path that he takes.