FIGHTING ON

He has worked as a counter staff at McDonald’s, a car washer and a cleaner in part because he wants to be in situations where he must be humble. And he continues with boxing partly because it is a demanding but underrated sport in Singapore. Muhammad Ridhwan Ahmad, who holds a diploma in sports and wellness management from Nanyang Polytechnic, may be quiet and unassuming. But he sure has his way of thinking — a contrarian streak which has seen him take on roles others avoid, including being the face of Singapore boxing.

Yes, it’s one thing to be part of a glamorous sport which comes with the thousands of cheering fans. It’s quite another to be toiling, day after day, in a forgotten sport like boxing.

Yet, for a decade or so, he has been putting in daily five-hour training sessions in the ring. Nevermind that his sport has been languishing in the doldrums since the 1990s.

Indeed, Singapore’s boxing scene is unlike that in the Philippines, which fawns over its homegrown world champion Manny Pacquiao, or that in Thailand, where muay thai boxing is a national obsession.

Yet Ridhwan has decided that he has a responsibility to bolster boxing’s popularity in Singapore. Every time he steps in the ring, he feels like he is fighting for the sport’s survival. He says, “Frankly, I sometimes feel this is a losing battle. The journey towards recognition of our sport can be lonely. What keeps me going are people who care.” Like his coach Syed Abdul Kadir who represented Singapore at the 1972 Olympics in Munich.

For Ridhwan, the role of ambassador comes with the weight of expectations. He did not always meet them. At the 2009 SEA Games in Laos, he returned home empty-handed. But, full of fire, he stepped up his training and was rewarded with a bronze at the 2011 SEA Games in Indonesia. It was good but not good enough for him. Singapore has not won SEA Games boxing gold since Mohammed Muklis’ triumph at the 1985 Bangkok Games, so gold was Ridhwan’s target.

In 2013, he would come tantalisingly close. At the Wunna Theikdi Sports Complex in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, he went toe-to-toe for three rounds with the Philippines’ Junel Cantacio before losing his semi-final bout. That left him close to tears. Although he knew he had given his all, he was very disappointed.

Looking back, he is less hard on himself. He now focuses more on the journey — the whole experience of setting goals, working towards them, enjoying oneself and growing as a person. This new orientation comes in part from the experience of setting up a boxing studio to expose people to his sport and the values it teaches such as patience and perseverance.

Citing his own example, he says, “I have grown a lot from being involved in boxing. When I went for my first tournament at 17 after three months of training, I went in thinking I would win. I lost and was totally humbled. That loss is something I keep in my heart. It reminds me not to assume things will be easy,” he says.

His efforts — and that of other young boxers — have paid off and spearheaded a revival of the sport in Singapore. On the home front, his two younger brothers too have picked up boxing. He did not have to persuade them to do so. In his understated ways, Ridhwan, whose family also includes his mother and a sister, has made a compelling case for his sport.