{"id":302164,"date":"2025-11-23T18:01:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T18:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/302164\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T18:01:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T18:01:11","slug":"meet-the-4ft-6in-nottingham-boxer-gearing-up-for-fight-of-his-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/302164\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the 4ft 6in Nottingham boxer gearing up for fight of his life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Faisal Mohammed, who has dwarfism, only took up the sport last year but has fought in front of hundreds of spectators<\/p>\n

15:15, 23 Nov 2025Updated 16:36, 23 Nov 2025<\/p>\n

\"BoxerFaisal Mohammed is one of only a handful of boxers with dwarfism in the UK(Image: Joseph Raynor\/ Reach PLC)<\/p>\n

Only 18 months ago, Faisal Mohammed had never even slipped on a pair of boxing gloves.<\/p>\n

But next week he’ll be fighting<\/a> in front of hundreds as he goes head-to-head with the UK’s most famous boxer with dwarfism.<\/p>\n

At 4ft 6ins tall, Faisal himself has dwarfism which is caused by skeletal dysplasia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“I saw posts online for boxing from a promoter that was looking for another fighter for another dwarf,” said the 32-year-old, who admitted he “didn’t know anything” about the sport before signing up for a gym in June last year.<\/p>\n

“Two days after that I signed up to a boxing gym and had my first fight in August.”<\/p>\n

Faisal, from Aspley<\/a>, was victorious in his first bout, against Likkleman Jr, but lost his second to Choon Tan a couple of months later, before getting his revenge in a rematch in December.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was hard because I knew nothing about boxing, I\u2019d never boxed in my life. Now I love the sport now and don\u2019t think I\u2019ll stop,” he said.<\/p>\n

Faisal, who trains around his job as assistant manager at Forest Lodge Care Home, is one of only a handful of boxers with dwarfism in the UK, making arranging fights difficult.<\/p>\n

However on Saturday, November 29, he faces his toughest opponent yet in Likkleman, who boasts an unblemished record and a social media following in its hundreds of thousands.<\/p>\n

\"FaisalFaisal is due to fight in Coventry on Saturday, November 29(Image: Faisal Mohammed)<\/p>\n

His opponent will also have home advantage, with the white collar bout, put on by TB Promotions, taking place at the Sports Connexion Leisure Club in Coventry. However Faisal is unfazed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get a lot of support from Nottingham and out of town, especially the Asian community.”<\/p>\n

As with anybody with a platform who is considered different, Faisal has faced his fair share of mean comments online.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got used to it kind of but it does affect my life. I get random people commenting on my height even when I\u2019m out shopping,” he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith this press conference stuff everything gets posted online and you get the odd few people giving you negative comments about being short, but that doesn\u2019t really change anything for me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve dealt with this all my life so I\u2019m used to it. I laugh it off. It\u2019s not going to put me off boxing if they call me short, it\u2019s stating the obvious.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just don\u2019t let it bother me because you don\u2019t see these people getting in the ring trying to box. It\u2019s not easy.”<\/p>\n

\"FaisalFaisal is trained by former IBO champion Jawaid Khaliq(Image: Faisal Mohammed)<\/p>\n

Faisal, trained by the former IBO welterweight champion Jawaid Khaliq at his gym in St Ann’s<\/a>, has acted as a source of inspiration for aspiring boxers since taking up the sport – whether they have dwarfism too or not.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince I\u2019ve started boxing I\u2019ve had quite a few other dwarves message me and I think it\u2019s motivating a lot of kids as well,” he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cKids will come up to me in the gym and ask me about my boxing and it motivates them.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoxing is something on the side. I\u2019m willing to pursue it as long as I can but I am 32 years old so I\u2019ll stick with it for a few years before hanging my gloves up.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt keeps you away from the bad and negative things out there and gives you good discipline.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Faisal Mohammed, who has dwarfism, only took up the sport last year but has fought in front of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":302165,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[135641,703,49,48,82,135640],"class_list":{"0":"post-302164","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-aspley","9":"tag-boxing","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-st-anns"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/302165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}