Bilal Fawaz: I Became Best Friends With Darkness And Pain A Long Time Ago Chivas Fc [r4igA9NccjR]

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There is beauty in darkness, Bilal Fawaz says with a poetic flourish as we sit on an old bench outside premier smith the Cricklewood Boxing Gym in this stark brampton weather corner of north-west London. I became survivor greece best friends with darkness and pain a long time ago. The sky is sombre, with black clouds rolling in, and Fawaz talks with electrifying force. He is a newly professional boxer but his past is haunting and his future uncertain. Fawaz was abused as a boy in Nigeria and then trafficked to London. It took him 16 years to win the right to remain legally in the UK but, despite being stateless, Fawaz fought six times for England and won the national ABA light-middleweight title in 2012. He believes he would have fought for GB in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics had he not been a refugee. He is now 32 and finally able to fight professionally. Yet, despite signing a deal in September with MTK Global, the management company which has more than 300 fighters on its books, led by Tyson Fury, Fawaz has entered another lockdown in destitution. He did not receive a penny when joining MTK and, while waiting for his pro licence to be granted by the British Boxing Board of Control, he will not make his paid debut before next February. Fawaz is worried he could end up being homeless again. Im not easily scared, he says with a sudden smile. Every key on the piano makes a sound. Even the sad keys make a beautiful sound. And the happy keys sound really good because without the sadness you would not appreciate them. Ive been through adversity but it gives me strength to look forward. Fawaz was held in detention centres twice by the Home Office as it tried to deport him and, while he tells me about being so depressed that he cut himself, it was amid incarceration that he learned to play the piano. Boxing and piano-playing, to Fawaz, both offer hope. Its a different journey but the same destination. Three plus four is seven. Eight minus one is seven. Different