Bilal Fawaz
In February 2022, I was made aware of the astounding story of Bilal Fawaz, in the run up to his first professional boxing match. Joining him in a central London gym a few days before his first professional fight, he lived up to every image you would have of an aspiring pro fighter; enthusiastic, powerful, open to different ideas for the shoot and, above all else, confident.
However, unlike other boxers, Bilal’s life has been so unbelievably hard, he stands well clear of the crowd, with that self-belief coming from years of adversity.
Bilal was born in Nigeria, on April 3rd 1988. Following the death of his mother, he was sent to London by his uncle under the pretence of reuniting with his estranged father. Instead, he found himself trafficked into a modern-day slave operation.
For months, he was kept in a house where school was forbidden, eventually breaking free one day and just running, with no idea where he was or where to go. Crying in the street, a passing man came to his aid, directing him to the social services, where he stayed from the age of 14 until the age of 23. After a brief marriage, he was detained in a detention centre by the Home Office, who were determined to deport him back to Nigeria.
The Nigerian Embassy told the Home Office that as he is not fully Nigerian, they couldn’t accept him. Bilal was then forced to take them on in court, where he won and was released under strict bail conditions. Forbidden from working, he must sleep in a single location every night, and report to a Home Office monitoring facility once a week.
This led him to boxing, which has since seen him box for England, representing the country several times.
During my visit to the gym, I met a small team who had been documenting his story for the last four and a half years, with their project reaching it’s conclusion with his first professional fight, on the evening of February 11th 2022 at Bethnal Green’s York Hall.
Working my way through the warren of dressing rooms backstage, I found a slightly different man to the one I’d met a few days earlier. Moments of quiet contemplation and reflection were evident, and following a brief meeting with the referee, a realisation that this was “it”.
The fight was scheduled to be fourth on a card of seven fights, with Russia’s Vladimir Fleischhauer as his first professional opponent. Despite being mid-card, the crowds of boxing fans who filled the venue were well aware of Bilal’s story, with many radio stations, news networks and publications covering his journey in the days leading up to the fight.
Standing in the ring, the concentration increased again as the next chapter in his story opened.
In the third of four rounds, an unstoppable volley of blows saw the referee step in to end the match on a Technical Knock-out; a victory for Bilal Fawaz.
Post-fight interviews and medical checks took place and he could finally make his way into the crowds, and see the friends and supporters who had turned out to witness this special moment.
Returning to the dressing room, I was introduced to Ahmed Aydeed, the solicitor who has been representing Bilal through his legal fights of recent years.
Now the next stage of his life begins. With so much already behind him, his is a life that demands all of our attention.
My thanks to Bilal Fawaz, MTK Global boxing and Getty Images.