Heavy Weight Fight for Principals
I’m standing outside of a Pub beside thirty to fourth others as well, as we all watch Anthony Joshua take on Wladimir Klitschko in possibly the biggest heavy weight fight of the 2010’s.
The fight swung and swayed between the two fighters; exchanging blows, both going down and getting back up, and the crowd’s and my reactions of elation and despair. Anthony Joshua rode those waves, not only to come back into the fight, but to go on and win it in style.
As I watched him all I could think of was principal.
AJ has always relied on his principals to advance his career and watching his fight reminded me of how long it took to develop my own as well.
AJ persisted with his boxing and with his training throughout his life. As a young man growing up in a working-class estate in Watford he had some bad influences, and opportunities to go a different, negative path. Yet within the boxing gym, he found discipline and a purpose and chose to pursue a career, even when nobody came to his fights.
Seeing Joshua achieve that night helped reassure my own persistence; throughout my life, I had never been really good at many things; for the few talents I did find, I held on to them dearly, I still do. I was always told hard work and to persist in order to get places; even through the tough times as an injured athlete, or now as a junior writer, my persistence has gotten results, results that no one would have expected. And I plan to keep that virtue and surprise a few more people along the way.
For me AJ symbolises a lot
He’s young, he’s from a lower income area, he’s black and he has a mixed British-Nigerian heritage. As all of these things, you have to carefully develop your principals as you grow through life.
A side from his persistence, AJ is also respectful and proud of his heritage. As a Nigerian, you grow up with an instilled passion and pride in your background, however this can be attacked or tarnished by the normative views of others around you; which for me happened to be a lot of upper-class white people. When you go through experiences like that, you eventually reach a moment where you have to make a choice; embrace your heritage, defend it and live by it, or hide it to try and fit in with the group.
Now in the media AJ is always portrayed as a British champion, and as long as he’s been winning he has been a British champion. But in interviews, media events and testimonies from people around him, he has always embraced his Nigerian upbringing and heritage, as much as his British one.
I try to do the same, I have a pretty obvious Nigerian name, but when people ask I confidently tell them I am Nigerian. I learnt to stand up and represent my heritage, as the values I have learnt and developed from this have shaped me to be a better person; even when they laughed and made jokes I still stand proud. My diversity makes me, and it makes many other people in this country, as such I’ve learnt to embrace my own heritage as I wish others to embrace mine, and I theirs.
Finally, and significantly, AJ is a humble man. Throughout the development of his career AJ has stayed respectful of his opponents, true to his supporters and mentors. He has every right to boisterous and flaunt his success, yet, even as he turns Heavy Weight Champion of The World, he remains grounded and thankful of the opportunity.
Humility is something I learnt to develop the hard way. In other words I’ve taken a lot of L’s in my life, so when I get those ‘W’s’, of course I am ecstatic, but I don’t get over run by the moment. Knowing how long it can take to have moments like that, moments like Joshua’s, you learn to be thankful and grateful just to get there. The ones I champion are those who helped get me there, as they’re the ones to champion me whilst I’m down.
The reason I love sport so much is that I see it as a medium through which I navigate life. Watching AJ’s performance and seeing his winning moment filled me with joy. If a young black man with principles like him can make it, then maybe I can to.
Watch the iconic moment bellow.
By Ola Fisayo.
