Bilal Fawaz has spent his life fighting – now he can finally call himself a boxer

Bilal Fawaz can weave a tale of pain and turmoil like no other – except every word is true.

Born in Nigeria, his Lebanese heritage saw him regularly bullied – not least by his abusive mother.

And when she 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.

But in a country in which he was supposed to feel safe, his trauma continued.

Upon arrival Fawaz was placed with a Nigerian family in London, not that he knew exactly where he was having had such a disorientating upbringing.

Ordered to remain indoors, he was abused, beaten and kept captive in his own home away from guests.

Fawaz found boxing after escaping the clutches of abuse and modern slavery and has won amateur and national accolades.

And the 33-year-old now has the opportunity to make a name for himself as he makes his professional boxing debut tonight.

But, of course, pursuing his dreams in the ring won’t be simple either; he has only a 30-month stay guaranteed by the Home Office.

“Everything that I have been dealt with all the pain and the suffering, it just gets harder when you get close to your goals because life wants to prevent you from seeing the virtue and the glory,” Fawaz told Mirror Fighting.

“This made it so much harder for me to get anywhere, the pressure and the weight upon my shoulders became heavier and I knew something would come out of this.

“It can’t rain forever, no matter how much it pours the sun will come out and it will all be worth it.

“I knew all this pain and suffering I experienced would be nothing compared to the glory I will feel when I have a family and a missus and my own kids running around. I had so much pain inside of me, boxing found me.”

In 2003, Fawaz quickly made the choice to abandon his family home at the age of 15, choosing to live on the streets where he was found crying and emotional without a safe space to go as any child would take for granted.

He was taken into a halfway house for older teenagers and managed to go to Brunel University where he discovered his love for boxing.

Despite all of the issues that had been none of his causing during his early life, Fawaz had discovered his talent and found a breakthrough through determination.

“I saw a man carrying a bag of gloves and I was watching fight night live on TV, and I believed I could do better than them. I didn’t know about internet as I had just come from Nigeria.

“So I ran after his man and he said ‘come Monday, Wednesday and Friday’, and that was it I become an ABA amateur champion.

“I became national champion and I was nearly chosen to represent Team GB but because I didn’t have permission to travel, my dreams were shattered.

“The Home Office said that ‘he will have to wait his turn’ and so Team GB let me go and picked the No.2 seeded boxer in the country.”

Fawaz was widely regarded as one of the most exciting young prospects on the circuit in 2012 after having become the light middleweight champion of England previously.

He represented England in several competitions, including against his country of birth, as he continued to fly the flag for British boxing.

However after his Team GB dream was “shattered” for the first time, he began to generate huge interest from professional promoters in securing his signature.

Frank Warren made an offer for Fawaz to compete professionally worth £230,000 which would have changed the life of the talented young star forever.

However his next blow came as he was forced to reject the offer due to his immigration status forbidding any legal income.

“I could have been hugely wealthy now but I can’t keep complaining, I never look back,” Fawaz continued. “It hurts thinking about it and remembering it to know that I lost potential wealthy income in my life.

“There is a little boy still crying and I’m not sure when that will stop because I still can’t travel, I can’t buy a house and I don’t belong to a country. I applied for a travel document as a stateless individual but it has been refused.

“It saddens me and pains me that I had the capacity to have that but what pains me the most is the Home Office had the opportunity to grant me a better life and they refused it.”

Fawaz has faced a constant legal battle with the British authorities over deportation issues.

He suffered a similar blow in 2016 being refused for the Team GB Olympics team on the second occasion due to his ongoing legal battle.

In 2017, Fawaz was arrested twice by the British Home Office at Stonebridge Boxing Club and taken to a detention centre with the plan to deport him once again to Nigeria by using Operation Nexus.

Warren and boxing trainer Barry McGuigan spearheaded the public outcry and attempted to campaign for his release and he was later released on bail in 2018 after being confined to detention centres twice.

During this time Fawaz went through personal turmoil as he saw his dreams fading away and his freedoms were once again far away.

“I lost my way, I became an alcoholic, I lost all my titles and I was sleeping on the streets,” Fawaz detailed. “However Simon and Allison they saved my life. They gave me a place to stay, paid for my rent and my expenses.

“They even paid for me to go to train in Liverpool, without this couple I would be nowhere. They saved me and I thought ‘enough of the self-pity after being in the detention centre’. I can’t thank them enough.”

Fawaz remains in legal limbo now despite managing to be declared as a stateless individual by the Home Office in 2019.

The Home Office also found him to be a victim of modern slavery and abuse and were able to award him the ability to become a citizen on temporary grounds.

Regular checks are made on Fawaz’s whereabouts and he has to regularly sign-in with the immigration authorities to confirm his status.

A 30-month stay has been granted after his previous appeal but he will continue to be unable to travel.

His frustration with the Home Office has continued to plague his thoughts but he is determined to make the most of the time he has been guaranteed.

He is currently performing at an acting school with the backing of streaming service Netflix and has even produced his own music.

Life is filled with considerably much more hope for the talented young star who will begin his pursuit of a quick-fire British title shot after receiving license to box.

“I bled for them but even now I am still fighting my case,” Fawaz pleaded. “Instead of them giving me definitely leave to remain, they only gave me 30 months.

“At the moment I can’t ask a bank for a loan to help me with all of the procedures to re-apply for the license in July. I have the opportunities and they are staring at me right in the face.

“Boxing is all about being in the right place at the right time, if I was offered a big fight abroad I can’t go because I can’t travel. All the things that could help me they are preventing it still and it feels like I am being punished.”

Fawaz has also attracted the sponsorship of Everlast who he now works for as an ambassador with his boxing career starting to set alight once again.

He is delighted with the opportunity to work with such big labels and has drawn comparisons between himself in the role to his idol Muhammad Ali.

“I have been looking at Muhammad Ali previously on TV and gone wow look at that,” Fawaz beamed. “And now I get to compete on the biggest stage and me and him are wearing the same logo.

“It is like playing in the same team as Lionel Messi. Ali’s brand was Everlast. So for me to be wearing the same brand and being an ambassador for Everlast is a dream come true.

“For a refugee to be wearing the same brand as arguably the sport’s greatest hero shows how much you can achieve and it is an honour.”

All that’s left now, is something most of us take for granted.

“If only I can be given a passport my whole life would be set in a new way,” Fawaz concluded. “I feel powerful and optimistic like a kid that has been given a Christmas present that he has been asking for.

“I am having butterflies because I know now that nothing can stop me, the only person can stop me is myself. If life events and circumstances couldn’t stop me, no-one can.

“Everyone had a passport, everyone has opportunities to be educated and to build an empire and become the greatest. So whoever is in front of me, if they are not afraid of me then I am afraid for them.”

Bilal Fawaz is an Everlast athlete and ambassador, shop the Everlast collection at https://www.sportsdirect.com/everlast