THE boxing fraternity, fans and Fijians living in Fiji and abroad were shocked on this day last year.
It was January 5, 2015 and many people woke up to learn of the demise of one of the greatest boxers that Fiji has ever produced.
Zulfikar Joy Ali, also known as “The Jet” in the boxing ring, was no more. He had breathed his last early that morning at the age of 36 years.
According to information available, he drank weedkiller on December 16, 2014, after a domestic dispute.
I remember travelling down to Lautoka on December 4, 2014, and while near Yako Village in Nadi, something made me call him as it had been quite long that we had not met — almost 18 months.
During the interview at his home in Nawaka, Nadi, he revealed some things to me, including his intention to secure some fights.
He was in a much fitter form in that meeting on December 4 compared with when I had last met him prior to that day. He was preparing for a possible international fight.
The last interview that he gave to any media before his death was published in this newspaper on December 6, 2014.
When I last met him on December 4, he had also requested me for some photos which he wanted to use for his posters for a fight that he was expecting to be arranged.
It was in that last meeting with him that he told me about his plans to make a comeback into the boxing ring after a three-year break.
“I had some overseas fights arranged but I couldn’t go and fight because I had a case pending in court and my passport was also there,” Joy Ali said in that interview.
“But the case against me was dismissed on June 4 and I now have my passport back with me. I missed about 25 overseas fights.”
Joy Ali had also said he had been training for some time and playing club level soccer every week to maintain his fitness.
He had also said there was no major source of income for him and he was eagerly waiting for a fight to come his way.
“I’m waiting for any fight, be it in the 69, 72 or 76 kilograms category. In other words, I’m ready for any fight in the junior middleweight, middleweight and super middleweight categories.”
Joy Ali, who was 73 kilograms at the time of that interview, was still the holder of the junior middleweight title of Fiji.
He was waiting for the Boxing Commission of Fiji to arrange an overseas fight for him as no programs were happening locally at that time.
“I have been assured by them that they will arrange an overseas fight for me. I really need it to get back to where I was once in boxing,” he had said.
However, it was a few days before his birthday on December 22 when I learnt that Joy, as he was commonly known, had been hospitalised.
The reasons given by my sources for his hospitalisation varied but I later found out that he had attempted to commit suicide.
I made numerous calls to his phone but they were either not answered or the phone was diverted and it was not until Christmas Eve 2014 that I managed to talk to him.
He told me that he was under the influence of alcohol and he had drunk weedkiller after a domestic dispute, saying it had gone just way over his head.
Joy Ali had said that he was not in hospital but still on medication and we had agreed to meet on Christmas Day but that did not eventuate as his mobile phone was switched off.
The last I spoke to him was about 11pm on either December 29 or 30 when he called me from the hospital and asked to help him out with something as he was feeling very uneasy.
But again, we could not meet the next day or ever again as his mobile phone was either switched off or there was no answer.
After Joy Ali’s death, Ghanaian born boxer Joseph Kwadjo, who is based in Fiji, said Joy Ali was a lion heart and he would always be remembered.
Kwadjo had said he would always remember Joy Ali with respect and admiration, saying Fiji boxing had lost a champ.
Team Kwadjo’s technical adviser Atulesh Prasad had said then that Joy Ali’s death was an absolute tragedy.
“I would describe Joy Ali as a tough man and a great rival in the ring. I met him few months ago and he was planning to make a comeback to revive boxing in Fiji,” he had said.
Team Kwadjo’s head trainer Gyan Singh had said that Joy Ali was the life and soul of Fiji boxing in the 1990s.
Joy Ali was the only boxer who agreed to fight Kwadjo twice, first losing by a unanimous points decision and then losing by a second round knockout on November 26, 2011.
BCF director Malakai Veisamasama had said then that Joy Ali’s death was a huge loss to Fiji boxing, saying he was one of the best boxers to grace Fiji’s shores.
Joy Ali won 31, lost 13 and drew six of his fights during his career, according to boxrec.com.
About nine months after Joy Ali’s death, the first boxing program was organised after a lapse of almost four years and two other programs held last year.
The person missing from these programs was Fiji’s golden boy, who will always be missed whenever a boxing program is held in any corner of the country.
May his soul rest in peace.
