[2] Haydar Zafer grew up in Bolu and started Turkish oil wrestling there as a teenager.

In 1949 he joined the Turkish national team, where he was coached by Nuri Boytorun.

In 1951 he competed in his first international championship in Helsinki and immediately became world champion in the middleweight, free style.

After three victories, he lost on points to the Iranian Gholam Reza Takhti, whom he had defeated in the 1951 world championship, and finished 5th.

[citation needed] At the 1955 World Championships in Karlsruhe, he competed in the Greco-Roman style in the light heavyweight division, but did not get beyond 11th place.