AN Afghan teenager who started boxing after arriving in Derry as an asylum seeker is eyeing a future in the sport following a winning start to his career.
Mujeeb Rahman began training out of Springtown Boxing Club 18 months ago. The eighteen-year-old quickly proved to be a natural and has already racked up three wins out of three, his most recent victory coming at the Co Derry Championships held in Swatragh.
“Afghanistan isn’t known for its famous boxers,” revealed Mujeeb following his latest gold medal performance. “There are MMA fighters but boxing isn’t something we would ever have thought about growing up. We knew about legends like Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson but it wasn’t really a big sport for us.”
Mujeeb Rahman fled his home country in 2019, a year in which more than 3,400 civilians were killed and a further 7,000 injured. According to a report published by Amnesty International the brutal casualty rate made it “the deadliest conflict in the world for children”.
Alone and aged just 13, he managed to make his way to Iran. From there he travelled to Turkey before spending time in Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland and France.
His exhausting odyssey eventually ended when he arrived in Derry in 2023.
“Life was hard in Afghanistan, there was constant fighting and people were dying every day. It was very dangerous,” he said.
Springtown Boxing Club has been life changing, according to the teenager. And he is determined to keep moving forward and make his mark on the sporting world.
“I train three days a week in boxing but I train every day by myself in the gym. It’s hard work but I really enjoy it. It keeps me fit and it has helped me make new friends. My coaches Min and Jack are brilliant and have been really supportive. I’ve had three fights so far and I’ve won them all which is great. I intend to keep going and the dream would be to go on and become a professional fighter.”
As to which country he might represent should he make it to international standard, it remains to be seen.
“Ireland has helped me and supported me so I would like to fight for Ireland. But at the same time it would be great to represent Afghanistan. Not at the moment because the Taliban is there and things are really bad. For example everything is closed, girls and women aren’t allowed to go out. It’s very bad right now.
But maybe one day it will change.”
For a young man who has spent so many years on the move, Mujeeb says he feels like he has found his place in the world again.
“When I first came to Derry it was scary because I didn’t know anyone. But after about a month I started to meet people. I fell in love with the city and now I’ve fallen in love with boxing.”