Bilal Fawaz became champion (Photo-George Wood/Getty Images)
Bilal Fawaz Win: The player who never got his mother’s love, the player who was betrayed by his own father, the player who was attacked with a knife not once, not twice but 25 times. The player who was shot in the legs has now created history. We are talking about boxer Bilal Fawaz, who has achieved the distinction of becoming the English Junior Middleweight Champion by defeating Junaid Boston in Sheffield, England. Bilal defeated Junaid 96-95, 96-95 and 95-95 in a thrilling match.
Bilal Fawaz’s painful story
Bilal Fawaz was born in Nigeria but this country also does not consider him as its citizen. The reason for this is that his name is not registered anywhere in Nigeria. Fawaz is of Lebanese and Benin origin and was illegally sent to England at the age of just 14. Fawaz told in an interview that his parents used to beat him. He said, ‘When I was a child in Nigeria, my mother beat me so many times that I started bleeding. My mother became a mother at an early age, so she had emotional problems. My father is Lebanese and he is a businessman and he never spent time with me. They sent me to England where I was kept like a hostage. I felt like a slave because I couldn’t go to school, couldn’t go to shops. I was beaten with slippers and made to do household chores. I somehow escaped but being homeless I had to spend the night on the road.
stabbed 25 times
Bilal told that when he was 17 years old, he was stabbed several times. He suffered 25 knife attacks and was shot in the leg. But he was given shelter by coach Steve Palmer at the All Stars Gym in Harrow Road, West London. Fawaz told that he used to clean toilets in the gym and also gave training. In return they got money, food and a house to live. Fawaz had to fight a bigger battle than this outside the boxing ring. He had to go to jail several times because he was not a British citizen, but in 2020 he got the right to live in Britain. Despite all these difficulties, these players won 80 out of 90 matches and now they have also become champions.