In the last few years, a lot of people would agree that the sport of boxing has died down a bit. It has been overpowered by Mixed Martial Arts, as companies like UFC have taken over the fighting world.
Local London boxer Abdul Jouda says that’s not necessarily the case.
“I started boxing when I was sixteen” says Jouda.
“It was the year our high school teachers at Lucas went on strike. I was doing wrestling at the time so I had so much energy amped up.”
That is when Jouda’s older brother introduced him to boxing.
Now at 23 years old, Jouda has stuck to boxing since quitting wrestling. He says that boxing is a lot more difficult, and fundamentally sound.
“I like the aspect of the competition, and there’s a lot of technique involved, so it’s a lot of fundamentals, and it got me out of trouble.”
Aside from that, Jouda says that London has one of the better boxing gyms in Ontario.
“There’s a gym on Adelaide Street called Boomers Boxing Club, that’s where we all go.”
“We got a lot of national level athletes that train there, so I’d definitely say it’s one of the better ones.”
As for the popularity of boxing, Jouda agrees that UFC has taken over the fighting market, but says that boxing is still very popular in London.
“I think there’s still a lot of noise in boxing.”
“I know UFC is coming up pretty strong but I still think there is still a lot of noise in the boxing world. I don’t think there’s a decrease, but I do see an increase with the levels of competition in boxing. There’s a lot of new guys that are coming up who are just as hungry as the old guys.”
Jouda is confident that boxing will be one of the top sports in London. He adds that he wants London to be ‘the mecca of boxing’ in Ontario, and is hopeful for the future.
