The once shy, skinny Welsh schoolboy who proved the doubters wrong wants to inspire other children, like him, who are looking for something
Cardiff boxer Saad Abdullah, in Dubai, after turning professional.(Image: Saad Abdullah)
Underweight, “insecure and picked on” at school Saad Abdullah had a speech impediment and barely spoke until he was 11. All that changed when his dad took him to a boxing show.
“When I said I wanted to be a boxer some people laughed,” said Saad, now a professional flyweight boxer who divides his time between home in Cardiff and the bright lights of Dubai. “Growing up, I was always insecure — undersized, quiet, and battling speech conditions that made me feel like a shell of myself.
“I couldn’t properly speak until I was around 11 years old. I was the easy target. The kid who didn’t quite fit in anywhere.”
Saad pictured before his first-ever amateur boxing fight aged 11(Image: Saad Abdullah)
Saad, now 22, has been a professional boxer since he was 19, recalls the day everything changed for him when he was in his last year at Grangetown Primary. Read the biggest stories in Wales first by signing up to our daily newsletter here.
“One evening, everything changed when I went to a boxing show with my dad. I didn’t fully understand what was happening in that ring — but I knew I was witnessing something special. This is what I wanted to be.”
The very next day, on his 10th birthday Saad’s dad Abdullah took him to the Prince of Wales Boxing Club near their home in Canton.
Saad lost his first amateur fight to Max Miller (pictured with him) aged 11 at a fight held in a pub in Cardiff
Some of the boys at the gym laughed when they saw the skinny boy who couldn’t even skip, let alone throw a punch, and knew nothing about boxing. But he recalls a coach telling him:”everyone has to start somewhere”.
For Saad that meant start meant getting up at 5am to train and run before school and going to the club multiple times a week after school.
“I had no talent, no power, no physical advantages. I was just a small, skinny kid but with a heart full of fight,” he says.
Saad with bhis dad Abdullah before one of his early amateur fights as a child.
Aged 11 Saad lost his first amateur fight to Max Miller in the Albion pub in Canton. He lost his next few fights and suffered setbacks and injuries, but was determined to succeed eventually.
Training obsessively as he moved up to Fitzalan High School Saad said he had few friends.
“In my early high school years, I was the most disciplined guy around. I would get up at 5 o’clock in the morning and run five miles before school. Sometimes I would even run behind the school bus, and the kids thought I was just crazy. I knew what I wanted.
“School was a struggle. I eventually dropped out in sixth form with nothing to fall back on. No safety net. No backup plan. I put everything into one basket — boxing.
“When I told people what I wanted to do, they laughed. Teachers said I’d never make it. Even some friends and family didn’t take me seriously. Doubt surrounded me from every direction.”
Cardiff boxer Saad Abdullah, aged 19, after winning the British Championships.
This was his final international amateur bout before turning professional. (Image: Saad Abdullah)
Saad proved the doubters wrong.
After 27 fights the once shy, skinny schookid became a national and British Champion, a full-time Welsh representative, and a multiple gold medallist for Wales.
Aged 19 he turned professional and has won his first three fights, all in Dubai. While he could fight in the UK Saad said Dubai is a big centre for boxing and it’s where he’s based for now.
As he forges ahead with his ambition to be a world champion, Saad says his inspiration comes from his dad and his hero the retired boxer Naseem Hamed “Prince Naseem” who competed from 1992 to 2002 and like Saad is a British Yemeni.
Saad Abdullah, after one of his early amateur fights.
(Image: Saad Abdullah)
“My dad is my cornerstone. From day one, we built the vision together and never let it go. He’s seen the full picture: the silence, the struggle, the setbacks, and the climb. He believed when others didn’t. He was there for every step through the late nights and early mornings.”
They now run the Prosperity Boxing gym in Cardiff with Sean Murray and Saad’s goal is to be a multiple world champion in multiple weights as well as to run the gym.
He hopes his gym will inspire other children, like him, who are looking for something.
“Our gym in Cardiff is more than a place to train, it’s a place for me to give back. A place for kids who feel overlooked, insecure, or lost, just like I once did. I want people to walk through those doors and feel belief before they ever throw a punch. To know they belong.”
Saad Abdullah boxer during his third professional fight in Dubai, aged 21.(Image: Saad Abdullah)
The gym has even previously supported schools by working with children who struggle with behavioural challenges, minor crimes, or have disabilities.
Saad says he believes his speech impediment, although helped with speech and language therapy, was also overcome by finding his confidence through boxing.
“I haven’t made it yet. I want to reach the top as a world champion and I want to be an example for other people chasing a dream and to tell them not to give up.
“Boxing gave me a voice. I found who I am through boxing.”
Back home in Cardiff for a few weeks Saad is enjoying seeing his dad, mum Thekra and his five siblings, none of whom box, but all of whom are proud of his success.
He’s training and coaching while he’s here before his next professional fight on February 7 in Dubai.