I was inspired by Naz, Mo said

SANA’A/ NEWPORT, Wales – Move over Prince Naseem. A new young Yemeni-born boxer, 20-year-old Mohammed Nasir, has been tipped as an emerging new boxing star in Wales.

The keen fighter has impressed the experts with his energy in the ring, winning a string of tough bouts and being accepted onto the Welsh national training program for its very best athletes.

Twenty-year-old Mo Nasir - or just Mo, to use the professional name by which he is known in the ring - arrived in Wales with his father about 11 years ago.

Mohammed Abdul-Wahab Nasir, originally from Maqbanah in Shamir, a district in Taiz province, was unable to speak a word of English when he arrived in the UK.

He was just nine-years-old when he left his birthplace in Yemen to join his father Abdul-Wahab in Wales, and had little idea of what the future in Britain might hold.

"My dad had been in Wales for a while working as a welder," said Nasir. "We joined him when I was nine. Wales was a little weird at first, but my dad wanted my brothers and I to have a better education and a better chance - it's worked well.”

Most of his family joined them at a later date, according to the national website of Wales.

The Yemen Observer contacted Mo, and in a telephone interview on Wednesday, he spoke of how he started boxing at the age of 11 after he fell in love with the sport.

"I'd seen Naz (Prince Naseem Hamed) boxing on TV and learnt that he was an Arab and originally is from Yemen,” he said, speaking from his home town of Newport. "I asked my dad if there were any gyms around because I liked the sport and just wanted to try it out."

The Yemeni sensation is one of Britain's hottest amateur hitmen – although you wouldn't know it if you'd talk to him. Quiet spoken Mo has become the “most talked about young boxer in Wales”, according to the Wales online news service.

Winning a place on the Sports Council for Wales' Elite Cymru programme has helped to meet the cost of training and competition, while providing medical and sports science support.

The results have been staggering. First he won gold at Melbourne's dress rehearsal, the Commonwealth Federation Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, in August.

On the casualty list were Northern Ireland's Paddy Barnes and Balbir Singh, of India, two of his fancied rivals in Australia this March.
Then Nasir blew away the competition at October's Tammer Cup in Finland, stopping the highly-rated American Vincent Montoya after opening up a 20-point advantage.

National coach Tony Williams described the performance as "one of the finest by a Welsh boxer," and not even an unkind world championship draw and a points defeat to Cuban Olympic champion Yan Bartelemy in China in November has diminished Nasir's belief ahead of Melbourne.
"Winning Welsh titles and internationals has given me so much confidence," said Nasir, who is a planning an IT college course in the Welsh town of Newport.

"When you move from the Four Nations to the seniors and box at the big tournaments that's when you find out about yourself.
"I had a slow start in the seniors, but winning the Commonwealth Games Federation has changed everything.

"When you have great support it helps and I really feel everyone in Welsh boxing - the Sports Council, Tony Williams and my club is right behind me."

Mo also told the Observer that while he wants to be a great boxer in the future, he would accept what Allah chose to give him.

“I am doing brilliant in my career and am still learning,” he said. “I am going win a golden medal in my upcoming fight.”

But the young boxer is one of the sport’s rare shy guys. His natural boxing ability is aided and abetted by his dedication to the sport that helped him win acceptance in his new surroundings.

“I don't smoke or chase girls,” he said. “And I'm a Muslim so drinking is forbidden too. All I have time for is boxing and my IT practitioner’s course - in case I can't make a living from fighting.”

His trainer Tony Borg insists: “You never see Mo out unless he is shopping for his mother. He's so dedicated.”
Borg remembered Nasir's first visit to St Joseph's gym in the town of Newport.

“He was so small and could hardly speak a word of English," Borg told the Welsh online service. "But when you put him in the ring, he spoke the language of boxing fluently. His natural ability was and is phenomenal - add to that his dedication and you've a great blend. Mo is still extremely shy now but once he jumps over the ropes, he's a different person."

Two younger brothers of Mo were inspired by his success and have also joined him in his favorite sport.

But while Mo is forging his new career in the UK, he said he still loves Yemen and remembers his childhood friends back in Maqbanah often. He still speaks Arabic with his family and fellow Yemenis in the neighborhood.

“Please tell the people of Yemen that I am proudly representing them here,” he said. “I will get them the gold medal from Australia.”

Mo’s father, who works as a welder, told the Observer that he had never expected our call, or that there would be interest about is son in the Yemeni media.

“I am more than happy and extremely pleased to hear from you,” he said in Arabic. “Please convey our best regards and wishes to the President and people of Yemen. Your call is a great support for us.”

Oxy u heard of him? being in wales..