SPORT BUSINESS OBSERVATORY – Nordine Oubaali reveals the reasons that made him stop his boxing career.
Souad Soulimani has been a member of the Sport Business Observatory since 2016. Founder of MediaSpoliS specializing in media education and the production of content dedicated to female leadership, she is also president of Radio Déclic, which gives voice to the inhabitants of working-class neighborhoods on major societal issues. The Sport Business Observatory is the Think Tank of the In&Sport firm whose vocation is to provide analyzes and deciphering on the evolution of sport, both in its economic and social dimension.
Why did you make this decision to end your career?
I spent more than 20 years training to reach the highest level. And go make my dreams come true. I lived in the ring my most beautiful memories of an athlete, painful moments too. I wrote my story and learned to pass it on. Today, after having been WBC World Champion and having defended my title on several occasions, I have decided to hang up my gloves. It’s a well-considered decision to have no regrets. Now that I know how not to go back in the ring, I can confide my doubts and the obstacles I went through.
Tell us about your journey…
I suffered an eye accident in October 2018 just before I got my world chance. The doctors told me that I had diplopia which causes significant discomfort when looking straight ahead and downwards. In fact, I had double vision. During this accident, I immediately thought that I was going to have to stop boxing. I did all the examinations possible to find out what the consequences and the risks were for my eyesight which was directly impacted and my long-term health. I was so eager to take my world chance and win the belt that I wanted to defy medical advice and insist on being able to box. I knew that my eyesight was diminished but nothing could take away from my head this global opportunity which is the fruit of all these long years of work and sacrifice. After several medical and expert opinions, it was still just as difficult to find the origin of the problem. I was told that I could continue to box but that an operation had to be considered. So I decided to temporize and box with the degraded view. I carried this malaise alone. Very few people were informed of this handicap which in the ring could penalize me severely. I knew it, I had agreed to take the risk. I had to train even harder to readjust my reflexes and learn to box with a different field of vision. I had to redouble my efforts to anticipate the blows and see them coming, to dodge them as much as possible. I had great difficulty finding the right timing and responsiveness, but I learned to deal with the handicap and to develop other high-level qualities.
After that ?
I put all the chances on my side and I seized the world chance that was offered to me in 2019 to accept the fight and become WBC world champion in the United States against a boxer, very technical and complicated to boxer. Immediately after this victory against Warren, I had to have an operation in Paris with the hope that the diplopia would disappear and that I could regain my integral sight. Unfortunately, the results of the operation were not very conclusive and even if I noticed an improvement in my front gaze where I no longer needed to bend my head to have a clear vision, on the side, everything was still blurry. From bottom to top too. The diplopia persisted. The doctors took turns and on the advice of my surgeon, I decided to have another operation in Toulouse by a great professor specializing in these diseases. The second operation took place in May 2020. We were then in the middle of COVID and no improvement for me. However, I had to continue training to defend my world belt.
I would have liked my country to help me more
Nordine Oubaali
How did you experience the Covis period and health crisis?
This period reinforced my demotivation. Closure of rooms, complications in finding good sparring and difficulty in keeping up with the rhythm and rigor of the high level. This period affected me a lot, I felt abandoned. Totally. As a high-level athlete, reigning world champion, the only one in my category in France who had to defend his title, I felt no interest or support or listening for these sporting difficulties which certainly affected everyone. and all sports but I thought I deserved better. I have given everything to my sport and done everything so that in the ring as well as outside, it is respected and loved as has been the case for me since my debut with gloves, but the period I am talking about has left traces. I took it upon myself and I absolutely wanted to face Nonito Donaire. It was my next challenge and I knew I had all the qualities to beat it despite this diplopia still present, I had learned to train with it and I was convinced that Donaire was within my reach. Now, looking back, I’m not looking for an excuse but the whole pre-fight atmosphere, the disorganization, the repeated obstacles. I feel wasted and disgusted. I accept defeat but for me there is a real question to be asked about the status of our champions. When you get to the top in tough sports like Boxing, you can’t keep ignoring the athletes. It is imperative to accompany them, listen to them, help them. I had to knock on every door, call everyone we could with my brother to try to get a visa in time, which we didn’t get anyway. I had to go through social networks so that my voice could be heard by calling to the Elysée and even like that, my situation was not considered enough and we found ourselves going through Mexico and taking a lawyer on site to make sure we could enter American soil which, during the pandemic, was very difficult to access like the rest of the world. I would have liked my country, the one I have always served and supported, to help me more. Finally, the visa, I obtained it by foreign authorities and an external help. It’s hard to accept.
Concretely, how did you solve the problem? Concretely, I had to make domestic flights in Mexico a few days before the fight to have this famous sesame and enter American soil to fight Donaire. The setting was neither serene nor conducive to performance but I thought it would pass. We had always managed on our own, so caught up in the movement and the excitement of the fight, I continued to believe in it while my body was exhausted by the travels and the hours to be settled by the administration only 10 days before the fight. On the spot already, I began to disengage myself by telling myself that I had to have surgery again on my return to France and that I had to stop boxing. I knew that in the event of victory or defeat, I would make the decision to stop because the conditions, once again, once too many, disgusted me. I could not think of remobilizing myself and sacrificing myself for my dream but also for all those who follow me.
Tell us the rest of the story…
The result is that after my defeat, I returned to France. I had surgery in June 2021, but still no progress. Various examinations were carried out and it was necessary to wait to see an improvement which does not arrive. I had left with the aim of ending my career and my manager revived me several times on possible possibilities of a career plan with three fights and a world championship on the line. This idea germinated in my head, I remain a competitor and I deeply love my discipline. So I tried to find the desire and remobilize myself. And at the same time, I got back in touch with my surgeon who let me know that a new operation could be considered. So, I had another operation in December 2021. On the fight proposal side and the realization of the contracts, I had to remain patient. But I have to admit that I no longer have the patience and I don’t want to sacrifice myself so much. So I said stop. I make the decision to hang up the gloves.
How do you view your career and what are your plans?
I am very proud to have achieved my childhood dream. I left beyond my dreams scoring three historic records: first Frenchman WBC bantamweight world champion, first Frenchman world champion in all categories in 15 fights, first Frenchman to win three world championship titles in the same year, all done externally. I stop boxing but I continue to be passionate and I will launch my website soon in order to keep the link with all those who support me, to also be able to offer my expertise and skills to transmit to as many people as possible what I have. -even learned in the ring and which serves daily in society. I remain convinced that the associations, organizations and institutions that favor education and integration through sport are those that must be supported and accompanied, I am at their disposal to carry out concrete actions and projects.
What do you think ?
I regularly lead Masterclasses around my discipline, conferences on leadership, self-confidence, resilience. Before becoming a champion, one must immerse oneself in strong human values. We all went through small clubs and with volunteers that we must salute. I leave the ring but I keep a deep affection for all those crossed on the way and all those who supported me and allowed me to go after my dream. Today, another battle begins, that of future generations and the question of Heritage. I did two Olympiads and I know what the Olympic Games represent for an athlete but well beyond this aspect, my major concern is that of the younger generations. I remain mobilized to do sport for all and inclusion through sport, real societal missions. I believe in it and I am available to all those who are in this state of mind: to build through Sport the society we want tomorrow. Top athletes must be fully integrated into the decisions and developments of the sport.
