Why Australian Boxing Coaches Let Muslim Boxers Skip Training

“Some people think [Muslim] women shouldn’t box but mostly just support,” the 26-year-old said. “They saw that I was very passionate about boxing. This is what I like to do. I don’t care what they think. This is my life.”

And what if someone does not support?

“I would say, ‘Anything to say’?” he laughed. “Then ‘whack!’”

Juggling his faith along with his love of boxing has become a problem, especially during Ramadan when Muslims cannot drink or eat between sunrise and sunset.

“I really believe in my beliefs, so it’s not something I can avoid,” he said. “I made sure I did my prayer. It’s something I can’t do. Just like Ramadan. Due to Ramadan, I couldn’t do camp in Sheffield. There’s no point in me leaving.

“Training in Ramadan is very tough. You practice before you start fasting. Then you go to the gym [at night] one hour after you eat. You are hungry but you have to control your cravings with food because you can’t eat too much, especially if you have comp.

“It was difficult because I was living the world straight after Ramadan this year, so I trained and tried to lose weight. I skipped daily events and controlled myself with all the good food. It was quite difficult.”

Boxer Tina Rahimi at the Brotherhood Boxn Gym in Greenacre.
Credit:Louise Kennerley

Kaye Scott38, a light-middleweight veteran of three Commonwealth Games, said having Rahimi in the squad had been a “learning experience”.

“There were some of us in the team who weren’t sure what we could do, what we couldn’t do,” he said. “[Ramadan] difficult for him because it is a weight-based sport. It’s not easy to track your weight.”

Saudis arrest Smith

As for Smith, this is his last competition after eight years as Australia coach — as he was recruited by Saudi Arabia to lead their programme.

Not, Greg Norman didn’t hatch a deal, making Smith an instant billionaire like those who had joined the rebel league LIV Golf.

“I don’t know how much the caddy gets, but maybe I’ll see if there’s a vacancy.”

Saudi Arabia boxing coach Kevin Smith

“I hope!” Smith laughed. “They have been looking for a new technical director for a long time. My role in Australia has changed a lot over the last 18 months. Australian boxing takes a lot of my responsibilities. Most of what I did, until the success of the Olympics, everything has changed.”

And, no, Smith won’t pocket the same astronomical amount as Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka.

“I don’t know how much the caddy got, but maybe I’ll see if there’s a gap,” he smiled. “This is pretty much the average salary for our sport.”

Smith has been successful, culminating with Harry Garsidebronze at the Tokyo Olympics – Australia’s first medal since Seoul in 1988.

“That’s the pinnacle but there’s a lot more to it,” said Smith.

“We have won several medals at the world championships: nine different boxers have won 10 medals in eight years. We won 11 medals in the last two Commonwealth Games.”

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Boo-hoo Brits found the sound

There’s a new sport thriving here in Birmingham: Australian Bashing.

In almost every event, there are varying degrees of ridicule and ridicule every time Australia competes. Ripples of ridicule were even heard in the girls’ 3 x 3 wheelchair basketball.

All in good spirits, of course. No malice at all. But it’s clear the crowd has two teams: theirs and whoever Australia is playing. Look at the medal tally, bitch.

Athletes love them Apples

As a tech victim, your humble correspondent regularly finds himself in the Apple Genius bar on the verge of tears and needs a hug.

The friendly staff at the Apple store on New Street not only turned a frown on my forehead—and got the damned Wi-Fi on my laptop running again—but revealed a lot of athletes had stopped by the store.

In large part, that’s because only seven of Commonwealth Games’ 72 countries and territories have dedicated Apple stores.

“For some, this is their only chance to come to the store,” one staff member reported.

QUOTE
“Special night in Birmingham . . . never said anything.” — Internal commentator on 3 x 3 basketball on fiyah on Tuesday night.

Jesse Wagstaff of Australia and Jamell Anderson of England battle it out for the 3×3 basketball gold medal.Credit:Getty

TOPNOTCH
Australia may have lost in the men’s basketball final 3 x 3 – to England, no less – but gosh those are some games that will have to go into extra time. The atmosphere was as good as anything this jaded old hacker had seen in a long time. We could cheer ourselves up with our men’s wheelchair team beating Canada.

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THUMBS DOWN
Scans have revealed Wallabies stars Samu Kerevi blew his ACL when he was injured in a seven pool game against Kenya earlier this week. It’s a bit like Sonny Bill Williams broke his Achilles on his way to New Zealand at the Rio Olympics. Hopefully the Wallabies type doesn’t deter players like big center from wanting to play sevens.

Get all the latest news from the Birmingham Commonwealth Games here. We will be live blogging action from 4pm-10am everyday.

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