Boxer Ahmed Adam (29) from Portsmouth, is making his professional debut. Ahmed and his brother Walid sought asylum in Portsmouth as youngsters as a result of the war in Sudan and have witnessed horrific atrocities. The pair have been embraced by the city with Ahmed's aim to win a world title for Portsmouth.
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00:00My name is Ahmed Adam.
00:02Ahmed, Saturday we'll see you take part in your first professional contest.
00:07What does that mean to you?
00:09It means a lot to me. I have been working so hard day in, day out, early morning, late night.
00:15It's been a long time coming.
00:18Since I started boxing in Amateur, it's been like 14, 15 years.
00:24I'm working on it. My dream is to be a professional athlete.
00:28I'm a professional athlete now. It's my professional debut, my first debut in my hometown.
00:33I can't wait. I'm looking forward to it.
00:35So what does it mean to be taking part in your first bout in Portsmouth?
00:39As you just mentioned there, it's been a long time coming.
00:42It means a lot to me, especially in my hometown, Portsmouth.
00:47I love Portsmouth. Portsmouth is my hometown city.
00:50I love it. The first fight in my hometown means a lot to me.
00:55I have a lot of friends, a lot of supporters, family friends.
00:59Some of them come from outside of the city and I appreciate them buying for the tickets.
01:06It means a lot.
01:08Can you tell us a bit about your journey from Sudan and why you came to England?
01:14My dad was in England and my family and I were in Sudan.
01:22He said, I want you to come to England.
01:27So he took us to England.
01:29It took us a long time to do the documents like visas and medical checks.
01:37It took us a long time.
01:39And finally we did all the medical and all the visas process.
01:43We received the visas and came to England.
01:46As soon as we landed in England, the weather was different.
01:51It was not the same as in Sudan. Sudan is hot, but here it was raining.
01:55After a few weeks, we went to the boxing club and we started training.
02:01I loved the boxing club. I said, this is my hobby.
02:08I like boxing. I want to be a professional boxer.
02:13In America, I did the two-time Hurricane Cup, National Championship, English Championship,
02:18South of England Championship, South Arab Championship and ABA Championship.
02:23I competed in the World Championship.
02:28It's a lot. It's a lot to me. It's hard work.
02:33What are your ambitions for boxing in the future?
02:39My ambition in boxing in the future is to bring the world title to hometown, Portsmouth.
02:44That's my goal. I want to put Portsmouth on the world boxing map. That's my dream.
02:50You've seen some incredibly tough moments when your life's been in danger.
02:56Can you tell us a bit about that experience?
02:59Life is all about challenges. We go through a lot of hard.
03:03Everyone's gone through a lot of hard.
03:05But you have to stay committed. Focus on your daily discipline.
03:11Believe in yourself, day in, day out. Work what you believe in.
03:15Life is challenging. Don't step back when you get challenged.
03:20Step back and say, oh God, why me? You have to step forward and say, you better try me.
03:26You have to stay a warrior. Believe in yourself. Work hard.
03:31Life is meant to be tough. The challenges have to be tough.
03:37You make mistakes, learn from them and keep moving forward. That's life.
03:42Tell me how you became involved in boxing in the first place.
03:47I was involved in boxing when my dad took us to the boxing club.
03:51We had a great training camp for the first time in the boxing club.
03:57From that, I got involved in boxing. I love it. I get in love with boxing now.
04:02I'm now a professional.
04:05Brilliant. Tell me what Portsmouth means to you.
04:09Portsmouth means a lot to me. I love Portsmouth.
04:12I have been a Portsmouth champion for 10 years.
04:16Every time I box in Amateur, when they introduce me as Ahmad Adam from Portsmouth, that means a lot to me.
04:25Now is my time to put in the world championship level.
04:30Portsmouth means a lot to me. I love Portsmouth. Portsmouth is my hometown.