Victor Perez

Messaoud Hai Victor Perez (, ) (18 October 1911 – 21 January 1945) was a Tunisian Jewish boxer, who became the World Flyweight Champion in 1931 and 1932, fighting under his ring name Young Perez. He was managed by Leon Bellier. He was a victim of the Holocaust having been imprisoned at the Auschwitz concentration camp before making a death march to Gleiwitz where he was killed.

Early life Perez was born to Sephardic Jewish parents Khomsa "Khmaïssa" Nizard, and Makhlouf "Khaïlou" René Perez, a household goods salesman. He was raised along with his four siblings in Dar-El Berdgana, the Jewish quarter of Tunis. He started training as a boxer at age 14 along with his older brother Benjamin “Kid” Perez to emulate his idol Battling Siki, a boxing champion from Senegal.

World Fly champion, October 1931 On 24 October 1931, he won the International Boxing Union and National Boxing Association (NBA) World Flyweight crown at Paris's famed Palais de Sports in a second round knockout of the exceptional American boxer Frankie Genaro. Perez seemed awed by the American champion who appeared to take the first round after a rally just before the bell. But responding to an attempt at a left hook by Genaro, Perez proved speedier and tagged his opponent with a crushing right hook to the chin that ended the match only ten seconds into round two. Although Genaro struggled to his knees by the count of eight, he was unable to get any further before the referee completed the count. The loss was only Genaro's second by knockout in his long career. Perez subsequently became the youngest French citizen to win a world boxing title. He was detained in the Drancy internment camp before being transported to the German extermination camp of Auschwitz where he was assigned to the Monowitz subcamp to serve as a slave laborer for I.G. Farben at the Buna-Werke.

During his transport to Auschwitz on 7 October 1943, he became part of "Transport 60" a group of 1,000 prisoners shipped from Drancy. During his internment, he was forced to participate in boxing matches for the amusement of the German guards and officers. By 1945, Perez was one of just 31 survivors of the original 1,000.

To escape from the Russians rapidly advancing on German held territory, the Nazis abandoned Auschwitz in January 1945. On 18 January 1945, Perez became one of the prisoners on the death march from Monowitz in Poland, Northwest to the Gleiwitz concentration camp near the Czech border. Perez was reported to have been murdered three days later on 21 January. According to eye witness testimony he was shot to death by a guard while attempting to distribute bread he had found in Gleiwitz's kitchen to other starving prisoners.

Legacy He was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1986. In 2013, his life was made into the French and German-language film Victor Young Perez (also known as Surviving Auschwitz or Perez ha'tza'ir). Perez's role was played by the 2000 French Olympic Gold medalist in light-flyweight boxing, Brahim Asloum.

Selected fights + 5 wins, 4 losses Result Opponent(s) Date Location Duration