PERSISTENCE
Determined Aqeel Ahmed proves the value of never giving up
ONCE it seemed a surprise to see Scotland’s Aqeel Ahmed competing with the world’s best light-flyweights. But in 2017 Ahmed
proved a point.
“I’ve been trying to get on to GB for three years now. When you compete in the British [championships] you get a shot, you get a chance. Three years I won the GB championships. The first two years I won it, I went on assessment,” he told Boxing News. “The third and final time I finally got on. I won a tournament in Finland, the Tammer tournament. It was my third year in that as well. I fought a couple of good opponents. I fought a Scottish boy and a GB boy at 52kgs, the weight above. I won that and then I was on the team after my final assessment.
“I couldn’t seem to improve for the first two years. After the third year and the result [in the Tammer] it just sealed the deal for me.”
That competition in Finland was something of a breakthrough. He had to move up to flyweight (though returns to 49kgs) and took good wins over Three Nations champion Blane Hyland and Commonwealth medallist and countryman Reece Mcfadden.
“The option was to step up or stay home, so at a week’s notice I chose to challenge myself and step up to 52kgs. I fought Blane Hyland, he’s been on GB for a good couple of years and I defeated him and I fought my own Scotland teammate as well in the final, Reece Mcfadden, and I beat him as well. Because I know him inside out, we’re quite good friends, it was difficult but we knew business first and put our personal thing aside,” Ahmed said. “It was a good thing I stepped up and proved myself in both divisions. I think that sealed the deal for me to get on to the team.”
He’ll take in his second Commonwealths later this year. “I went to the last Games. I was an inexperienced fighter. It was all new to me. I was just happy to be at the 2014 Games. Now four years on, I’ve come on leaps and bounds. Not just in my skill, in my mental mindset. I come to win. I’ve got that mind frame to win against any fighter. Back then I was just amazed to be in the ring against some of the fighters. Now it’s a different mindset as well,” he said. “I’ve gained very valuable experience since then. I think I’ll be a completely different fighter to what I was in 2014.”
The worry, hanging over Ahmed and so many other boxers, is that their division might be axed from the next Olympic Games as AIBA incorporate two additional women’s weight classes.
“I’d like to know what they’re doing. I think they should decide very soon. I actually think it’s a bit unfair. 49kgs might be the lightest weight, it’s a stacked division. At the World championships, all Olympic medallists, most of them, three of them were still in the World championships. Like most of our division, they’re loyal to the 49kgs division. I don’t see why they should just take it away like that. It should be a hard decision but that seems to be the division which they’re up for taking away. Personally I think it’s a bit unjustified,” Aqeel said. “But you’ve just got to go with whatever. If they take it away I would not back down from stepping up and take on the challenges ahead at that weight.”
‘PROVING MYSELF IN BOTH DIVISIONS SEALED THE DEAL’