Olympic Boxing Profile: Aziz Abbes Mouhiidine

In the fifth of a series of profiles leading up to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, we are taking a look at some of the world’s elite boxers who will be competing at the biggest sporting event of the world this month. Here is Italy’s Aziz Abbes Mouhiidine, the two-time silver medalist in boxing from the International Boxing Association Men’s World Boxing Championship.

Silver at the 2021 World Championships

Abbes Mouhiidine was one of two Italians to win a medal at the 2021 World Boxing Championships in Belgrade. The other was Salvatore Cavallaro in the middleweight division, who won bronze. In the heavyweight division, Abbes Mouhiidine defeated Narek Manasyan of Armenia 5-0 in the first round, Tony Filipi of Croatia 5-0 in the second round, Julio Castillo of Ecuador 5-0 in the third round, Sanjeet Kumar of India 5-0 in the quarterfinals, and Enmanuel Reyes of Spain 4-1 in the semifinals, before losing 4-1 to Julio Cesar La Cruz of Mexico in the gold medal bout. The bronze medals went to Reyes and Madiyar Saydrakhimov of Uzbekistan.

Silver at the 2022 World Championships

Abbes Mouhiidine became the only boxer in the heavyweight division to win a medal at the last two World Boxing Championships when he won silver in Tashkent, Uzbekistan in 2023. In the heavyweight draw, Abbes Mouhiidine got a first round bye before beating Aibek Oralbay of Kazakhstan 5-0 in the second round, Julio Castillo of Ecuador 4-1 in the third round, Davlat Boltaev of Tajikistan 5-0 in the quarterfinals, and Narek Manasyan of Armenia 5-0 in the semifinals, before losing 4-3 to Muslim Gadzhimagomedov of Russia 4-3 in the tightly contested gold medal bout. Lazizbek Mullojonov of Uzbekistan and Manasyan shared the bronze medal.

Great Olympic Boxing Success

Italy has a rich history in Olympic boxing. They have won a total of 48 Olympic medals all-time (15 gold medals, 15 silver medals and 18 bronze medals). There are only three sports where Italy has won more medals at an Olympic Games than boxing. They are fencing (130), athletics (65), and cycling (63).