He’s known by some as the “World Kid”, but he’ll be representing both the United States and Brooklyn in the upcoming Beijing Olympics.
Thus Sadam Ali, 19, of Canarsie, will be the first Brooklyn fighter since former heavyweight champion Riddock Bowe took home the silver medal at the 1988 Seoul games to fight in the Olympics.
Ali, a lightweight in the 60 kilo [132-pound] division, is also the first Arab-American boxer to represent this country in the Olympics.
Born to Muslim Yemeni-immigrant parents at Maimonides Medical Center, Ali has four sisters and a brother, and is a Canarsie High School graduate.
“Sadam has been working hard and he wants to come home with a medal. His weight class is one of the toughest in the world,” said Ali’s father, Mahmoud Ali, a Brooklyn real estate broker.
Ali said his son is already in Beijing focusing on the tournament and he plans on traveling to China shortly to lend his love and support.
Ali said his son’s road to boxing started a few years after he enrolled him in a karate class at four years old.
“I saw that he liked fighting so when he was eight I took him to a boxing gym. He started at the Bed-Stuy boxing gym and then he moved to the Starrett City gym,” Ali said, adding his Brooklyn trainers are Victor Rountree and Andre Rozier.
Ali said his son was highly influenced by Prince Naseem Hamed, the colorful Yemeni-British flyweight and bantamweight champion in the 1990s.
On the road to representing the USA in the Olympics, Ali was the junior Olympic nationals and world champion and is a two-time Golden Glove National Champion.
Jimmy O’Pharrow, 83, the founder and president of the Starrett City Boxing Club, characterized Ali’s style as more of a boxer than a slugger.
“He’s more a hit and run, hit and don’t get hit scientific boxer,” said O’Pharrow. “The biggest assets he uses are bob and weave, and slips and slides, avoid getting hit, and try to demoralize the other fellow. He does get a little wild once in a while and tries to slug it out.”
O’Pharrow said Ali also has speed and some power. For Sadam to have gotten to the Olympics he’s had to have beaten a lot of other good fighters, he said.
Ali ultimately qualified for the Olympics by finishing in second place at the AIBA 1st Americas Qualifying Tournament held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago in March.
In qualifying he defeated Jesus Cuadro of Venezuela in the quarterfinal round, and Juan Nicolas Cuellas of Argentina in the semifinal round before falling to Cuba’s Yordenis Ugas, 13-5, in the final round.
The Cubans have fielded the dominant boxing team in the last few Olympics.
“I believe he’s the dark horse in this thing [Olympics] and has a chance to win it,” said O’Pharrow.
Mahmoud Ali said his son is the youngest in his weight class, but feels he has a good shot in the tournament.
“Sadam adapts to every fighter and any style. He knows exactly how to beat you. He can go after you, bang you, counterpunch you. He knows exactly what to do after the first 20 seconds of a bout,” said Mahmoud Ali.
The elder Ali said Sadam can beat the Cuban, but there are several very tough fighters in the weight class, and most can beat each other on any given day.
Italy and England both have good fighters, and the fighters from Cuba, Argentina and Puerto Rico are all very good, he said.
The elder Ali said he is very close to his son and supportive, but the Olympic coaches there keep him totally focused on the immediate challenge ahead.
“They have him so strict there I can’t even talk to him. He calls us sometimes. He tells us everything is fine and that’s it,” said Mahmoud Ali, adding he will go to Beijing with Sadam’s uncle while his wife stays in Canarsie to look after their other children.
Ali said his relationship with his son is one of love and fatherly friendship, where his son knows he is with him – win or lose.
“I’m with him always. If he loses I hug him and kiss him, and tell him next time you’ll do better,” he said.
Although the draw has not been made on who Ali will meet first in the single loss tournament, his first bout is scheduled for August 11.
Subsequent fights in his weight class at the Olympics are scheduled for Aug. 15, 19, and 22, with the Gold Medal fight scheduled for Aug. 24.
