Don’t mess with Zarika

 

Professional Boxer Fatuma Zarika (right) with her daughter Sophia Zarika. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Some people need therapy while others need alcohol to calm themselves. This little angry girl got her jollies from kicking around other children on the playground. And while her size wasn’t much to speak of, even the not so pint-sized little humans around her knew better than to mess with her.

Why was she so angry? Well, we will never know, because, little tots cannot explain why they do what they do. In fact, scientists say that children’s critical and logical thinking only develops after age eight. She must have had a wry sense of humour, as to fight the other children better, she signed up for some self-defense classes in the neighbourhood.

She excelled at it, but as fate would have it, the classes took the fight out of her, not in the literal sense, but in the sense that now, she walked away from fights outside the dojo. Why? Because her teacher did not like it. They were trained to keep the fights in the ring, never outside.  A tough lesson to learn, but one she embraced wholeheartedly. The little angry girl growing in the tough neighbourhood of Kawangware with just her mother and little brother to complete her world, had finally found the one thing that came naturally to her. She was a beast in the ring. And she loved it.

“I was really desperate for a change in my life and it took all of me not to give up because I had people counting on me,” she says.

Well, the Fatuma Zarika I interviewed isn’t an angry little girl anymore. She is all woman. And a world champion. Still puny, still fierce, and absolutely soft-spoken. And in the boxing circles, she is called Iron Fist.  She is famous now, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at her. She has close-cropped hair, a black shirt that covers her muscular arms and red pair of trousers. She is admittedly not a fan of feminine frills and pomp.

“I love my look. It works for me spectacularly,” she says dismissively, clearly not interested in discussing her fashion choices with me.

She has a conspicuous scar beneath her left eye.

“I got it when I was in the ring with Zambian Catherine Phiri in December. She gave me a head butt, and she had hair,“ she says. I guess that’s another reason to not be fond of hair.

We are in Nairobi’s Uhuru Park, attending a meet and greet event for her fans. And there is quite a crowd. It almost overwhelms her as she grapples with the requests for selfies and handshakes. She doesn’t have body guards, but not for one second am I in doubt that she could hold her own. In tow was a beautiful young woman, one of her two daughters.

The making of the iron fist

The 33-year-old boxer has come a long way. And while now she is arguably one of Africa’s best, the journey didn’t come without some blood, sweat and tears. Of all the martial arts she could have chosen, she picked boxing because of an encounter with another boxing queen, Conjestina Achieng.

“She is a woman I have always looked up to. And when I finally got to meet her, she convinced me to take up boxing. I was sold.”

And she had to excel in it. After all, what other options were there for a Standard Seven dropout.

“Most times we didn’t have enough to eat. Mum tried her best. Eventually even school fees became a problem. So I dropped out. Sometimes I wonder if I would have been a boxer if we were wealthy and I had finished school.”

Her brother, Musa Mohammed also, faced with limited options, carved out his safe little space in football. He went on to become a Gor Mahia captain and he also turns out for the national team, Harambee Stars.

She officially joined boxing in 2003. However, boxing didn’t earn her much.

“By then I had two babies. I had to supplement the little I made with odd jobs. Sometimes I worked as a house help, and another time I worked as a shop attendant.”

Zarika has been in 47 fights, 31 of which she has won. That means that she is really good at it.

In 2016, Zarika became the first Kenyan to win the World Boxing Council (WBC) World Super Bantamweight title after beating Jamaican Alicia Ashley in Flint, USA.

She has had a winning streak, but in September, she almost met her match in Mexican boxer Yamileth Mercado. She won the match. But her opponent didn’t take the loss so graciously. Mercado took to Twitter claiming that victory had been stolen from her. “She asked for a rematch but later changed her mind,” she says. 

Last year, she got a Head of State Commendation. “If the President knows that someone like me exists, then it makes me happy,” she smiles shyly.

Eat like a saint, train like a demon

Being a boxing champion takes grit and determination. And Zarina is no stranger to tough workouts.

“I train twice a day. I do my ring moves at the camp and lift weights at the gym.  When preparing for a match, I eliminate red meat, greatly reduce starches and load up on vegetables to avoid gaining weight.”

Mental focus is an aspect she works hard at and a crucial component to every fight.

“The day before a match is unusually tense because I know everyone will be watching. I do not want to disappoint my family, friends and fans – and that is a lot of pressure.“

So what goes through her mind when facing an opponent in the ring?

“Once I step into the ring, I am completely focused on my opponent, and I spend the first three rounds reading them. I learn their moves, what kind of punches they use, which punches are their strongest and what punches they do not use.”

She has to do this because even if she watches previous matches her opponents have been in, oftentimes they end up playing differently, using different techniques from what she had watched.

After the first three rounds, it is game on.

Cons in the game

Boxers in Kenya are largely short-changed. They often get swindled a lot, with managers taking advantage of them and not paying them.

“When I got the WBC title, I took my belt and went my way. They had said there would be reward money but I do not know what happened to it. Someone may have taken it but it never found its way to me,” she says.

This is not unusual in the sport; it seems to be the norm.

“Even if you followed up and they tell you they gave out the money, what can you do? Where would you take whoever took the money?”

But it isn’t all gloom and doom. Things are looking up. 

Thanks to SportPesa, the betting firm, which has taken sports people under its wing, we are doing better. We never had as many fans coming to watch our matches as we do now. Now we are paid for what we do, and I am grateful because my life has turned around and I can’t complain.”

Dating anyone?

The separated mother of two is happy with her life.

“I got married early, before I even got into boxing, but that is all I will say about my love life. All I want is for my girls to lead happy lives. And I do not want more children. I just want to enjoy my life. I also intend to retire in a year and become a coach or promoter.

Is she happy?

“Yes I am. There is nothing that I have that was handed to me on a silver platter, so it makes me proud to be where I am today. If you want to be anything in life, you have to struggle and I did my time.”

When she is not busy doing something related to boxing, she unwinds by watching movies and visiting friends.