Alakhverdiyev was born in a remote village and took up wrestling in September 1964 when he began his studies in the regional capital, Makhachkala. He was motivated by example of the Dagestani wrestler Ali Aliyev. Alakhverdiyev then knew little about technique, but was well trained, and could do one-handed pull-ups. He retired at the age of 30, and then worked for one year as an engineer, before returning to wrestling as a coach. His son Velikhan also became a wrestler and won medals at the European championships.
