Bilal Fawaz feels like he’s been accepted into an elite school after he penned a lucrative a deal with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom.
The 37-year-old has endured a long and difficult route to the top of the fight game, but now he has the opportunity to showcase his talents to the world and push on. While many fighters at Fawaz’s age are starting to wind it in and think about life after the sweet science, Fawaz is plotting his path to “financial stability,” and it all starts later this evening when he takes on Ishmael Davis on the Josh Warrington vs Leigh Wood undercard.
Born in Nigeria, his Lebanese heritage saw him regularly bullied. After his mother was murdered in religious riots, Fawaz was promptly taken to live with his 'uncle' in Lagos before, at the age of 14, he was taken to England to be reunited with his father. His trauma did not end there though. Upon arrival, he was placed with a Nigerian family in London. Ordered to remain indoors, he was abused, beaten and kept captive in his own home away from guests.
During his teenage years, he was stabbed over 20 times and shot in the leg, but that was nothing compared to the legal struggles he was forced to battle with for over 15 years, as he was made to fight for the right to remain in the UK. The UK refused to accept he was stateless, while Nigeria denied him citizenship. Fawaz found himself in deportation centres on multiple occasions, but six years ago, he was finally permitted to remain and work in the UK.
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Fawaz found boxing after escaping the clutches of abuse and modern slavery, and now he is well and truly looking to make up for lost time. After winning various English titles, the hard work starts now when he challenges Davis for the British and Commonwealth junior middleweight titles.
His commitment to the fight game seemed to pay off after he recently signed with Matchroom. Footage of the boxer shaking hands with Hearn went viral after Fawaz was filmed fighting back the tears - a moment he will never forget. "What it felt like is being accepted into a school that only the elites get accepted to be in," he told Mirror Fighting. "And it shows that even an underdog, a refugee, a boy that never had anything, can get into the elites. It’s a very inspiring story for anyone. If I, if I can do it at this age of 37, well, no one should have an excuse. No one! If you have two hands, two legs, and you can run, you can walk, and you have a brain, you cannot have an excuse and say I can’t do it. If you say this, it’s because you tell yourself that to make yourself feel better."
The 37-year-old credits the Matchroom supremo for 'saving his life,' but understands he must now repay the favour and not get "distracted by the glimmering lights and the chicaneries people dangling trinkets." A calm and composed individual, Fawaz refuses to be drawn into some of the circus acts that put a nasty stain on the sport of boxing. Instead, the boxing star has opted to take a much more cordial approach with Davis, and after their mouthwatering dust-up, the niceties will resume.
"I would love to take him out for dinner, we can go, you know, hang out. But the thing is, right, at the moment, he’s in my way. And if you’re in my way, I promise you, I will cut through you like a hot knife through butter. And that is what I’m coming with, you know. So this is it. There is no kind of animosity towards him. I’m cool with him," he explained.
With Fawaz showing no signs of slowing down just yet, he will not let himself take his foot off the gas just yet, and insists there is one sole feat he would love to achieve before eventually deciding to slow down. "What I’m striving to achieve is financial stability. That’s what drives me and the hunger that if I don’t grab as much as I can right now, I would never ever have another chance anymore. People retire at 37, I’m getting started at 37.
"Look at (Oleksandr) Usyk, you know, look at Tyson Fury, look at all the big fighters. You mature if you take care of yourself and you take care of your mind and you don’t lose sight of what is important, you can last a long time. Now, what I, what I have going for me that motivates me is I have to provide. I’m a father, you know, I’m a man. I have to provide for my family. So for me to take a foot off the gas, it’s going to be catastrophic, because I’m already gaining momentum right now. Why not capitalise on how much gas I have left and see how far I can push it? And that’s what we’re doing.
Fawaz has thus far spent his time giving back to the community, whether it's being an Uber driver or helping people achieve their fitness goals, and while he very much enjoys being active and on his feet, he hopes a win tonight will only change his life for the good. "After this fight, life opens," he said. "Hopefully I buy a house and put my kids in there and my partner where we don’t have to worry about paying rent every month and then I focus on boxing, singularity. I just put all my energy and mind in boxing, no more Uber, no more training people in the cold, you know, just train twice a day which is what I’m doing and that’s the only thing I do. Time is coming, you know, time is coming."
