Nigeria born boxer Fawaz ready to re-write history
Bilal Fawaz a Nigerian-born boxer who was abused as a child and trafficked upon his arrival in the UK is set to make his professional debut against Vladimir Fleischhauer.
The former England amateur captain will face the Russian at London’s storied venue, York Hall, on Friday evening after overcoming some unthinkable challenges during his life.
The UK-based boxer grew up in an abusive Nigerian home describing his parents as ‘brutal’ and referring to his childhood as ‘torture’.
When he turned 14, he was sent to London to meet with his estranged Lebanese father. However, Fawaz’s dad was nowhere to be seen when he touched down in London. It became apparent that the young boy had been trafficked into the UK.
Fawaz was imprisoned in a house in east London and continually threatened by his captors. He was told he could not leave the premises and that he was banned from attending school. As a result, Fawaz spent his days doing household chores.
Speaking about his circumstances he faced upon his arrival in the UK, Fawaz told Sportsmail: ‘Coming over to the UK was invigorating but when I got here I realised everything I thought was going to make me happy was going to be taken away.
‘I never thought I would be in a circumstance where I was not going to be allowed out of the house. It really hurt. It hurts the soul.
‘If you believe you are going to be given something and then that gets taken away from you… you feel empty. I felt empty to the point where I didn’t know what to do with myself.’
Fawaz managed to escape the ‘torture’ at the age of 19 and went into the care of the state. However, the Nigerian-born boxer faced a new set of issues while in the UK system.
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He lived in a hostel for abused and abandoned children for four years. During that time he managed to get a sports diploma and take up boxing – becoming national light-middleweight champion in 2012.
Fawaz is now looking ahead to his professional debut. The 33-year-old managed to scrape together enough money to successfully acquire his boxing licence last year and victory tonight will be a major boost.