Hanover Park boxer Nasrullah Nazier, 20, will take to the ring in his first professional fight, on Friday May 26.
The young fighter will face Luyondo Mvula from Khayelitsha in a lightweight bout at Hope Street Hall in the Cape Town CBD and has been putting in the hard yards under the watchful eye of his father, Igshaan, who runs the Hanover Park Boxing Academy from the family home.
A former pupil at Belmor Primary School and Groenvlei High and one of four siblings, Nazier has been boxing since 2018 but was introduced to the sport at an early age by his father, a former boxer himself.
“We train thrice a day, up to five hours everyday, sometimes six hours,” he said.
“I spend lots of hours on the road and at the gym, skipping, hitting the heavy bag, doing pad work, sparring and not forgetting having to endure lots of scolding from my father if I make mistakes,” he jokingly said.
The two agree there’s no better time than the present to join the professional ranks as the right-handed fighter has already made a name for himself on the amateur circuit. With 15 amateur fights -13 wins and 2 losses – under his belt, their confidence is understandable.
As things stand, he’s won the Cape Town Metro Open Boxing Organization (CTMOBO) Championships, the Western Cape Open Boxing Organization (WCOBO) Championships and a silver medal at the national championships in Limpopo in 2019.
However, he will have his work cut out when he steps into the ring on Friday but thankfully, he’ll have his father in his corner and his biggest supporter in his mother, Nawaal, in the crowd.
“My parents are my biggest inspiration because they work hard to ensure a better life for me and my siblings,” he said.
“We have a lot of kids training here at the Hanover Park Boxing Academy, also known as Reizani Empire Fighters. We’re training hard, we’re making it happen because we want to produce champions from Hanover Park,” said Nazier Senior.
“I’ve been in boxing all my life, we’re talking about almost 50 years and I’m 62 now. I’m passionate about boxing because I believe boxing is like life. You know, you get knocked down and then you get up. That is where the discipline comes from, this all about fighting to survive, not only in our areas, but in life,” he said, inviting the community and businesses to show support.
“We train with broken gloves, but this is about our kids, this our future leaders and we want to make it happen for them,” he said.
For more information, call 083 555 2843.