From his facebook: DONT THINK I'VE EVER TOLD MY STORY> HERE GOES I ran away from home at the age of 16. Between the ages of 16 to 20 i mixed with the wrong friends/kids on the street. got in trouble with the law a lot. My mom passed when i was 20 years old. knowing an african mother, i knew there was no way she was not disappointed by the way i was living. It hurts more than you can imaging to know that my mother, a woman i loved so much was disappointed in me when she died. that same year (2000) i decided to flee to america. Yes FLEE. i arrived in los angeles with not a penny to my name, all i had was a brother that allowed me to stay in his apartment for 3 months. After moving out of my brothers, i moved into a student hostel where i got a job as a desk clerk. i didn't get paid, i just traded this services for free rent, the rent was only $75 a week as there was three bunk beds and 6 people in a room that i shared with traveling student from europe and around the world. Soon after that, i got a job as a D.j in a local strip-club, a strip-club that didn't have a license or permit to operate as a club. I was working 2 says a week at the strip club for $100 a night. i did this for about 3 months until the law shut the place down. i was back working in the hostel with no income, at times the only reason i had food to eat was because the foreign students in my room would hand me charity. A few weeks later i walked into a boxing gym in los angeles, while training there one day, i noticed the mirrors and windows were dirty, i made the owner who is now a close friend an offer to clean the mirrors every night because the fighters would sweat on it a lot. he gave me $50 a week to do this, and thats how i survived for the better part of a year. i decided to enter a field i had no training in or any idea what i was doing, i just watched the men and women who did it best do it, i copied everything they did and worked as hard as i could. 12 years later, im 32 years old and its new years eve. I have a career. pleased to say that i am one of the best in the world at what i do. I have a beautiful place i call home. I have most people's yearly income in my checking account, and im going to celebrate NYE with a $12,000 watch on my arm. how far i have come. Big up Ola!
Wow! Great to hear he is doing well financially. Looks like he is getting good money in his fights. I hope he wins a belt this year.
I don't think it's super unusual story in boxing, some guys have had it much worse like Ouma or Tapia. Regardless this guy is a credit to the sport, glad he's finally in a good spot.
I bet his mum smiles as she watches down on him today. I dare say wlad compensates him well for his sparing duties. Even more of reason to support ola
Boxing always throws up great stories because it attracts people from all walks of life. Ola is a great fighter, had one of the fights of the year last year with Marco Huck, be good to see them tangle for a third time this year.