This is for you, dad
Hisyam fights Jeremy and wins despite the passing of his father
PETALING JAYA: No one would have blamed Malaysian mixed martial arts ( MMA) exponent Hisyam Shamsudin if he had pulled out of his featherweight bout against Indonesian Jeremy Meciaz in the One Championship: Total Victory in Jakarta.
After all, his 63-year-old father Shamsudin Masaleko, who was in Jakarta to watch his son fight, died in his sleep after performing his morning prayers on Friday.
Unsure whether to fight or not, Hisyam took his mother Nurbaity Jasimin’s advice and got into the cage yesterday.
That takes great courage and fortitude.
His decision proved correct as he beat Jeremy via a technical knockout in the first round at the Jakarta Convention Centre.
Jeremy stormed out of the gates wanting to engage and chased Hisyam all over the cage, but the Sabahan weathered the early onslaught.
Hisyam’s background in box- ing made the difference as he delivered some big blows of his own to force referee Yuji Shimada to stop the contest.
“I love you dad,” he said as he tried to fight back his tears.
“I know you came to support me in this fight. I got the win dad. This win is for you.
“I saw him at the hotel on Thursday and we took a few selfies. Then he went to my aunt’s house. The next day I got a text from my mother telling me that dad was in the hospital.
“When I reached there, my mum told me that he was no longer with us.
“I was unsure whether to get into the cage, but mum told me to do it as because my dad came all the way to see me fight.”
Commenting on the win, Hisyam said that he knew that Jeremy would come charging at him.
“From the previous fights, I knew that he rushes in the beginning. So, when he had me in a leg lock, it wasn’t tight. I just waited for him to tire out,” said Hisyam, who improved his record to 2-2.