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Q: You
are now medically cleared to start your
comeback. Can you tell us a bit about what
happened in the days, weeks and
months after your last
fight which has kept you out of the ring for so
long?
A:
Finally I got cleared by my neurosurgeon to get
back in action again. I’m not going to lie, I
went through a lot in the last 5 years. I had 4
surgeries, one after other, and been in the
hospital in and out for months. From the
youngest UBO world champ in history to a poor
guy using a wheelchair 24 hours
a day for months, that says it all.
Q: You
had a long break between fights from 2014 to
2017, also due to injury. How have you kept
motivated to work for a comeback? Did you
consider, or even think, that you would never
fight again?
A:
Actually, some of the doctors told me that I
will never be able to fight again, and believe
it or not one doctor said that I will never be
able to walk properly again since I lost
complete control or my left leg at that time.
But I kept saying to myself, “Djamel, you can do
it”.
With all
respect to the doctors, I’ve never listened
to them on this one.
Even
though I was laying down basically 24 hours a
day, I never missed a training session, I mean
virtually. In 2015 I had my first back surgery,
it took me almost 2 years to recover, I made my
comeback in 2017 and it was just a 6 round
tuneup fight. Then a
couple of weeks after
that I hurt myself again very badly, I couldn’t
even walk.
Motivating myself during that time was the
toughest thing to do, especially hearing doctors
say that you are done, but, Hamduallah, I
believe that everything happens for a reason,
and my dad always tell me: “son, God will never
let you down”. I have a very strong faith, and
believe in God, and that’s my secret so that I’m
making my comeback very soon to chock the world.
Q: So,
what is the plan now? Have you already started
training, and when do you think you will be
ready for your first fight back?
A: The
plan is to get back in shape like I was before
when I used to knock everybody out. My training
is going good, and I’m working with a legendary
trainer Eddie Mustafa Muhammad here in Las
Vegas.
Our plan
is to a do couple of
small fights after this pandemic, to build the
confidence back, then we target my UBO World
title. I’m saying “my title”, because it’s still
mine. Nobody beat me to take my title away from
me.
I´m
coming for what is mine! I will become a
two-time UBO World Champion in 2021, that's a
promise!
Q: You
are truly an inspiration to boxers, athletes and
people in general, that you should never give up
if you want something bad enough. Do you have
some words for those who may find themselves in
a similar situation to the one you were in?
A: My
advice is to never give up on your dreams, no
matter how bad the things and situations are
going. To the young people out there, work smart
and hard. You guys need these
two ingredients to
succeed.
No matter
what you are going through, you have to keep
your mind positive because in my situation I was
paralyzed in the eyes of my doctors and
doubters, but in my mind and eyes I was
completely fine. That’s the secret of using your
positive mind to heal whatever you are going
through.
Q:
Anything you would like to say in closing?
A:
I want to
thank god first for blessing me in this journey.
I want to thank my family for being so
supportive since day one. I want to thank the
UBO staff for all the help and support they gave
me since 2012 when I became a UBO
All-Africa
champ, they never let me down.
A
big thanks to my fans out there, and finally
I
want to give huge and special thanks and credit
to my lovely wife Desiree for all the love and
support that she gave me since we met, and
she
still
has
my back.
We
have been through a lot together, we got married
during
very tough times, I couldn’t offer her nothing
special beside my heart, and she gave up
everything she was dreaming about just to make
me feel good, and now it’s my time to make her
proud.
I will be a
two-time
UBO world
champ
for her, God willing!
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