HAMZAH Ahmed’s refusal to submit has seen him spar despite being told: “You’ll never box again.”
He does it with a leg brace.
The former fine amateur, tipped for big things as a pro, has been to a very dark place since dazzling in his first two pro bouts. But he has, through grit and determination, emerged into the light, although there is still a long journey ahead.
He has not fought since October, 2023, and will not return to action this year.
For Walsall’s Hamzah, trained by Shiney Singh, managed by Anthony Manning, the nightmare began during a sparring session.
The anterior cruciate ligament, which stabilises the knee joint, on his right leg snapped: a serious, career-threatening injury worsened by a string of complications that stalled surgery. The same injury robbed Paul Gascoigne of much of his footballing magic.
“The doctor said to me, ‘you’re not going to fight again,” the 25-year-old super-feather recalled. “I told him: ‘You don’t know what kind of man I am’.”
Helped by the team at Fearless Boxing Academy, in his hometown, Hamzah has stayed in the game through coaching others and is now again sparring.
He hopes to launch a comeback next year.
Hamzah, aged 25, admitted: “I had an episode where I just sat in bed all day thinking, ‘what am I going to do?’
“When I got back in the gym, I went on the pads and it snapped on me again. I started coaching to keep my head in the game.”
Hamzah has gained inspiration from the story of former world champ Vinny Paz who defied medical science by fighting again despite suffering severe spinal injuries in a car crash.
“It is never a straight line in a successful story,” he said. “There is always going to be zigzags. My religion states, ‘with hardship comes ease’.
“The main thing is I’m still learning, still training and it is a matter of time. I’ve matured a lot more, I’m coaching, I’m a more knowledgeable boxer now than I was before the injury happened.
“I know I will come back a better fighter. I’m thinking, ‘I’ve told a lad to try things, why don’t I try them?’”
Ahmed arrived on the pro scene after an outstanding amateur career. A product of Fearless Boxing Academy, he won 50 of 60, claimed 10 Midland titles, a British Universities title, national title and boxed for England.
He is a man with a big fanbase – 300 people bought tickets for his debut at Birmingham’s Eastside Rooms.
To those fans he vows: ‘I’ll be back better and stronger’.
