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{{short description|Tunisian boxer}}
{{Cleanup bare URLs|date=August 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox boxer
| name = Victor Perez
| image = Victor_Young_Perez_French_Boxer.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| realname = Messaoud Hai Victor Perez
| nickname = Young Perez
| weight = Flyweight<br />Range {{convert|108|to|119|lb|disp=br}}
| height = {{convert|5|ft|1|in}}
| reach =
| nationality = Tunisian
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1911|10|18|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Tunis]], [[French protectorate of Tunisia|French Tunisia]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1945|01|21|1911|10|18|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Gleiwitz]], [[Poland]]
| style =
| total = 138
| wins = 92
| KO = 29
| losses = 31
| draws = 15
| no contests =
| medaltemplates =
| show-medals =
}}

'''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.<ref name="CBZ">{{cite web|title=Young Perez|url=http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/perez-v.htm|publisher=Cyber Boxing Zone|access-date=7 February 2022}}</ref> He was murdered in [[the Holocaust]].

==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]].<ref name="wollheim" /> Near the end of 1928, after competing against the best of the local boxing talent in Tunis, at 17 Perez traveled to Paris, to pursue his dream of becoming a world boxing champion. In his youth, after winning the World flyweight title, he had a brief relationship with French-Italian actress [[Mireille Balin]] of [[Monaco]].<ref name="Stars"/>

==Boxing career==
===French Fly champion, 1931===
Perez's first attempt at France's Flyweight championship came on 8 February 1930, but resulted in a 4th round loss to Henry "Kid" Oliva in Limoges, France.<ref name="Boxrec"/>

In only his 54th professional match, Perez won the French Flyweight title in [[Paris]] on 4 June 1931, defeating Valentin Angelmann in 15 rounds.<ref name="Boxrec">{{cite web|title=Young Perez|url=https://boxrec.com/en/proboxer/9927?offset=0|publisher=BoxRec|access-date=7 February 2022}}</ref>

===World Fly champion, October 1931===
On 24 October 1931, he won the [[International Boxing Union (1911–1946)|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]].<ref name="Hall of Fame">{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishsports.net/BioPages/VictorPerez.htm|title=Victor "Young" Perez|publisher=International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame|access-date=26 June 2022}}</ref> 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.<ref>"Genaro Stopped in Second By Perez", ''The Gazette'', Montreal, Quebec, Canada, p. 16, 27 October 1931</ref> 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.<ref>"Frankie Genaro is Knocked Out", ''Edmonton Journal'', Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, p. 50, 27 October 1931</ref> Perez subsequently became the youngest French citizen to win a world boxing title.<ref name="wollheim" />

Facing stiff competition, he lost the title the next year, on 31 October 1932, to [[Jackie Brown (English boxer)|Jackie Brown]] in a twelve round points decision in Manchester, England. He then moved to the [[bantamweight]] class. In an attempt at the World Bantamweight title on 19 February 1934, he was defeated in a difficult 15 round bout by [[Panama Al Brown|"Panama" Al Brown]], who held a ten inch height advantage. He retired from boxing in December 1938 with a record of 92 wins (28 of them knockouts), 26 losses, and 15 draws.<ref name="Hall of Fame" />

==Auschwitz==
On 21 September 1943, after being denounced by an acquaintance, Perez was arrested in Paris by the ''Milice Francaise'', a French collaborationist paramilitary force of the Vichy Regime.<ref name="Stars">Silver, Mike (2016). ''Stars of the Ring'', Published by Rowman and Littlefield, Los Angeles, pp. 210–113.</ref> 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.<ref>André Nahum: Quatre boules de cuir ou l'étrange destin de Young Perez, champion du monde de boxe {{ISBN|2-86970-060-1}}</ref>

During his transport to Auschwitz on 7 October 1943, he became part of "Transport 60" a group of 1,000 prisoners shipped from [[Drancy internment camp|Drancy]], in [[France]].<ref>https://deportation.yadvashem.org/index.html?language=en&itemId=5092632</ref> During his internment, he was forced to participate in boxing matches for the amusement of the German guards and officers.<ref name="wollheim">{{cite web|url=http://www.wollheim-memorial.de/en/victor_young_perez_19111945|title=Victor "Young" Perez (1911–1945)|publisher=Wollheim Memorial|access-date=26 June 2022}}</ref> 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 marches (Holocaust)|death march]] from Monowitz in Poland, {{convert|37|mi|km}} 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.<ref>Quatre boules de cuir ou l’étrange destin de Young Perez, champion du monde de boxe by André Nahum: Publisher: Bibliophane (24 April 2002) {{ISBN|2-86970-060-1}} {{ISBN|978-2869700604}}</ref><ref name="Stars"/>

== Legacy ==
He was inducted into the [[International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame]] in 1986.<ref name="Hall of Fame" /> 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]].<ref name="Stars"/>

==Selected fights==
{{s-start}}
|-
|+ 5 wins, 4 losses
|-
! Result
! Opponent(s)
! Date
! Location
! Duration
! Notes
|-
| {{yes2}}Win
| Valentin Angelmann
| 4 June 1931
| Paris
| 15 rounds
| Won French Fly title
|-
| {{yes2}}Win
| [[Frankie Genaro]]
| 26 October 1931
| Paris
| 2nd round KO
| Won NBA World Fly title
|-
| {{no2}}Loss
| Jackie Brown
| 31 October 1932
| Manchester, Eng.
| 13 round TKO
| Lost NBA World Fly title
|-
| {{yes2}}Win
| [[Émile Pladner]]
| 24 January 1933
| Tunis
| 10 rounds
|  
|-
| {{no2}}Loss
| [[Baltasar Sangchili]]
| 18 March 1933
| Valencia, Spain
| 10 rounds
| 1935 World Bantam champ
|-
| {{no2}}Loss
| Jackie Brown
| 3 July 1933
| Manchester, Eng.
| 12 rounds KO
| For NBA World Fly title
|-
| {{no2}}Loss
| [[Panama Al Brown]]
| 19 February 1934
| Paris
| 15 rounds UD
| For World Bantam title
|-
| {{yes2}}Win
| [[Émile Pladner]]
| 11 July 1934
| Paris
| 10 rounds
|  
|-
| {{yes2}}Win
| [[Eugène Huat]]
| 14 April 1936
| Tunis
| 10 rounds
|  
|}

==See also==
*[[List of Jews in sports#Boxing]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.wollheim-memorial.de/en/victor_young_perez_19111945 Victor Perez at The Wollheim Memorial]
*[http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/perez-v.htm Cyber Boxing Zone bio]

{{s-start}}
{{s-text|style=background:#C1D8FF; font-weight: bold;|text=Status}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Tony Marino (boxer)|Tony Marino]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Latest born world champion to die | years=21 January 1945 – 6 August 1946}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Benny Lynch]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez, Victor}}
[[Category:1911 births]]
[[Category:1945 deaths]]
[[Category:Tunisian male boxers]]
[[Category:Jewish Tunisian sportspeople]]
[[Category:Sephardi Jews who died in the Holocaust]]
[[Category:Jewish boxers]]
[[Category:Flyweight boxers]]
[[Category:World boxing champions]]
[[Category:World flyweight boxing champions]]
[[Category:French civilians killed in World War II]]
[[Category:French people who died in Auschwitz concentration camp]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Tunis]]
[[Category:Drancy internment camp prisoners]]
[[Category:French male boxers]]
[[Category:French Jews who died in the Holocaust]]
[[Category:Deaths by firearm in Poland]]
[[Category:French people executed by Nazi Germany]]
[[Category:People executed by Nazi Germany by firearm]]
[[Category:Auschwitz boxers]]
[[Category:The Holocaust in Tunisia]]

Victor Perez (Tunisian boxer) - Revision history

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