Five years after our first interview, we caught up with the former secret society member to discuss the winning mindset of a professional boxer.

“When I lost at the World Championships in Mongolia, my whole dream just crumbled. I went there believing I could beat everyone in the tournament, but I did badly against my opponent from the UK. My dream was to win gold, but I left with nothing. 

After returning to Singapore, I was supposed to fight in the qualifiers for the upcoming SEA Games, but somehow, that didn’t happen. That’s when Coach Ridhwan told me not to waste any more time and just turn pro. So I left the national team and became a professional boxer.

To be honest, I never wanted to turn pro. My goal was always to be the number one amateur boxer in the world. But that’s life. You can make plans, but God may have other plans for you. Even if you can’t accept it, He knows what’s better for you more than you ever will.

What’s the difference between amateur and pro boxing? Honestly, both sports are dangerous. It only takes one punch to end your career. Even if it’s just sparring, you’re still  putting your life at risk each time you step into the ring.

And it’s not fair to discriminate against one and say the other is better. Amateur boxers in the national team fight for themselves, their team and the country. Most of them don’t even get paid or receive an allowance. I respect them for juggling boxing with school or a full-time job.

When it comes to pro boxing, our gloves are smaller, so the impact is harder. Getting punched is more painful. The pro scene also operates like a business. You fight for money, and you have to strategically move up the ranks before you can fight the best in the world.

Of course I get nervous before my fights. Everyone has nerves, but feeling nervous is not the same as feeling fear. Unlike fear, nerves are good for you – they keep you sharp. If you don’t feel nervous, there might be something wrong with you.

Honestly, I was a bit scared about turning pro. I don’t have a lot of amateur experience to begin with, and pro boxing is a whole other ball game. But coach Ridhwan told me to trust the process. Surprisingly, I feel like I’ve improved so much since making the transition.

When I was still in the amateur system, I was always pointing fingers and complaining a lot. You know, saying things like the training’s not good; my teammate’s not good; the coaching’s not good. I was very selfish and self-centred. I always blamed others.

But when I turned pro, I trusted Coach Ridhwan fully. I mean, I still get pissed sometimes when he scolds me. He can be very direct with his feedback, and I might take things the wrong way in the heat of the moment.

However, as I slowly mature, I understand that everything he says comes from a good place. He scolds me to make me better, and I feel like my performances are much better now than when I was an amateur. I do have high expectations of myself, so there’s still room to grow.

Even after my last fight, I knew there were things I needed to work on. Yes, I won. But I got knocked down in one of the rounds. My opponent was there to fight. You can tell when a fighter is only there to survive and get a paycheck, but he was there to fight. I respect that.

What I’m most proud of is being mature enough to acknowledge that I screwed up and got knocked down. I mean, what else can you do? You can’t rewind time. What’s done is done. You can be sad about it, or take the positives and learn from it.

Haters might laugh at you, especially now in the world of social media. Clips get shared and circulated. In boxing, you will see a lot of people reveal their true colours to you. And if you surround yourself with people who are messed up, you’ll be messed up too.

That’s why I don’t really care about outside noise. Love me or hate me, that’s on you. I’m going to do me, with or without your support. I’m going to focus on me, and keep a good circle of family and friends around me. 

One thing I discovered is that the thoughts you feed yourself the night before are going to determine how your day is going to be. If you feed yourself with negative thoughts before you sleep, your next day is going to be shit. 

So before I sleep, I always tell myself that tomorrow is going to be a good day. I’m going to do good things, I’m going to attract money, I’m going to attract love, and so on and so forth. If you constantly tell your brain you’re gonna do it, then you’re gonna do it. 

That is why, even though some people tell me my dreams of becoming a pro boxing world champion is impossible, I’mgoing to tell myself that my dream is within reach. Anything is possible if I work hard, pray and believe.” – Khalid Shakur, 29 

Interview by Arman Shah

    READ: PEOPLE OF LEGENDS

    VISIT: LEGENDS FIGHT SPORT