BOXER Bilal Fawaz has survived being shot and homelessness but his biggest win came in his fight to stay in the country – and receive a passport.
Fawaz is now the British and Commonwealth super-welterweight champion – having won a 16-year battle to remain in the UK.
And his journey has seen him survive knife attacks, poverty and the threat of deportation.
Fawaz was born in Nigeria to a mum from Benin and a Lebanese father – bullied for the colour of his skin.
He told The Guardian in 2020: “I’m too black to be called white and I’m too white to be called black.
“I was the odd one out and people would say: ‘Go back to your country.’ I would tell them: ‘I was born here. ’
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“But they bullied me and treated me as an outcast.”
Fawaz also grew up with abusive parents who would beat and torment him.
He said: “When I was a kid in Nigeria my mum beat me to the point where I was bleeding on several occasions.
“She took her depression and regret out on me. She was too young to have kids so she had emotional problems.
The Home of Boxing in 2026
There’s a massive year of boxing ahead!
It’s shaping up to be a blockbuster year of action inside the boxing ring.
Tyson Fury will make his return in April against Arslanbek Makhmudov, Conor Benn is closing in on a world title shot and Fabio Wardley will defend his newly won heavyweight crown.
Canelo Alvarez will be hoping to return after his defeat to Terence Crawford and heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk will also need to defend his straps.
Derek Chisora will fight for the 50th and (perhaps) final time against Deontay Wilder, while Daniel Dubois is also on the comeback trail.
A whole bunch of British stars could also take a leap into superstardom, with the likes of Moses Itauma, Hamzah Sheeraz and Adam Azim ready to join the very top of the sport.
Here’s all the big fights coming up…
February
- Sat 21 – Ryan Garcia vs Mario Barrios – WBC welterweight title – DAZN PPV
- Sat 21 – Leigh Wood vs Josh Warrington – DAZN
- Sun 22 – Claressa Shields vs Franchon Crews-Dezurn – heavyweight unification – DAZN
- Sat 28 – Emanuel Navarrete vs Eduardo Nunez – super-featherweight unification – DAZN
March
- Sat 14 – Jazza Dickens vs Anthony Cacace – WBA super-featherweight title – DAZN
- Sat 28 – Moses Itauma vs Jermaine Franklin – DAZN
- Sat 28 – Sebastian Fundora vs Keith Thurman – Amazon Prime PPV
April
- Sat 4 – Derek Chisora vs Deontay Wilder – DAZN PPV
- Sat 11 – Tyson Fury vs Arslanbek Makhmudov – Netflix
- Sat 18 – Callum Smith vs David Morrell – DAZN
- Sat 18 – Manny Pacquiao vs Ruslan Provodnikov
- Sat 25 – Mike Tyson vs Floyd Mayweather
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“My dad is Lebanese. I didn’t see him because he was a businessman. He never spent a significant amount of time for me to feel I had a dad.”
Fawaz was later trafficked to London at the age of 14 by his dad to stay with a man he was told was his uncle.
He said: “I felt like a slave because I wasn’t allowed to leave. I couldn’t go to school or the shops.
“I was slapped, beaten with a flip-flop, and told I had to clean the kitchen and do everything in the house.
“I eventually escaped and someone found me in the street, crying. They took me to social services.”
Fawaz was eventually taken into care – but trouble found him on the streets during periods of being homeless.
Before his rematch with Junaid Bostan this year, he said: “When I was 17, I had so much fire and I did not know what to do with it.
“I needed guidance, I did not have a mum or dad so I got in trouble. I got stabbed 25 times, I got shot with a gun. It’s crazy.”
Fawaz bears the scars of his troubled past, with a gunshot wound in his leg and numerous stab marks in his midsection.
But his refuge was found in boxing with trainer Steve Palmer at the All Stars gym in Harrow Road, West London.
He said: “I came here and everything changed.”
Fawaz had a successful amateur career, winning 80 of his 90 bouts with national titles and even representing England on six occasions.
He cleaned toilets in the gym and coached boxing in exchange for cash, food and accommodation while also surviving on donations.
But his biggest fight was outside the ring.
Fawaz faced deportation but as his dad never registered his birth in Nigeria, the boxer was declared stateless.
He said: “The Nigerian Embassy said I’m not Nigerian. The Home Office arrested me and took me to a detention centre.
“They released me after a while due to my mental condition. But they locked me up again one year later.
“It was the same agenda and the Nigerian Embassy said: ‘Why are you bothering us? This boy is not Nigerian. ’
“My father had died so I couldn’t claim any citizenship with Lebanon either. I belonged nowhere.”
Fawaz was in and out of immigration removal centres as he desperately fought his case.
He was denied the right to turn professional and fought on the white collar scene of unlicensed boxing to remain active in the ring.
But finally, in June 2020 Fawaz’s life changed forever when an immigration lawyer broke the news that he had won his right to live and work in the UK.
After the 16-year battle came to an end, he said: “At first I couldn’t hear what my lawyers were saying.
I needed guidance, I did not have a mum or dad so I got in trouble. I got stabbed 25 times, I got shot with a gun. It’s crazy.
Bilal Fawaz
“I went upstairs where there was nobody sitting and they told me that I’d been given leave to remain, it felt so surreal I had to get them to repeat it and then I just started yelling and crying all at once because the relief was just so emotional and so overwhelming.”
Fawaz turned pro in 2022 racking up wins on the small hall circuit – losing just one to Ayoub Zakari.
His biggest fight came in January 2025 when he suffered a controversial split-decision draw against Bostan – leading to their rematch in Sheffield
Fawaz made no mistake in their October rematch, beating Bostan on points to win the English title.
That earned him a crack at Ishmael Davis’ British and Commonwealth 154lb titles in Sheffield.
And despite a rocky start, it was perhaps fitting that Fawaz overcame adversity to turn the tide and defeat Davis on points.
In his crowning night, Fawaz celebrated with the British title, but still remains without a UK passport and citizenship.
Promoter Eddie Hearn said: “For over 20 years he’s lived in this country, representing England in the amateur system, working hard, paying his taxes and never been able to get a British passport, bizarrely.
“Tonight, he’s just won the British title. So please, let’s just make sure we get this man a British passport for the service he’s given to this country as well. It’s an incredible, incredible story.”