27-year-old Said Ouali (17-2, 9 KOs) ,of Moracco, continues his climb up the Welterweight division.
Growing up in Belgium, a Moroccan born 14-year-old by the name of Said Ouali followed in his older brother Mohamed’s footsteps who became a champion kickboxer in 1998, Ouali chose boxing instead but was very influenced by his brother’s love for his sport. “Boxing is a sport that takes me to the next level, I grew up fighting in tournaments and winning then followed that by qualifying to fight in the nationals. Some people have a love for something but do something else, I have a love for boxing and that is why I do that. Boxing separates the boys from the men, I love the game. It’s easy to come to this country, marry a girl and get a regular job but that’s not what I want to do. I want to do something so in five or ten years from now people will remember it”, passionately states Ouali. The educated Ouali finished his schooling and speaks five different languages. Boxing is not his only option but there is nothing else he would rather do. “I guess I would like to be an accountant if I stopped boxing right now,” says Ouali while losing some of the luster as the conversation shifted from boxing.
Said grew up admiring the likes of Marvin Hagler because of his will and desire to become the best. “Hagler was a warrior who fought everybody and was not a shiny guy,” said Ouali who then went through the dates, names and locations of numerous Marvin Hagler fights then later discussed other fighters dating way back to the sixties until now. The twenty seven year old Moroccan born fighter suddenly showed that he is also a boxing historian who studied the sport at an early age. Ouali appreciates who came before him and hopes to make his own mark like his childhood idols like Hagler.
Ouali’s amateur career consisted of eighty-three wins against only three losses that started in Europe and ended here in the states. Following a very successful amateur career Ouali then turned pro in November of 2000 and has built his record up to 17-2 while creating quite a buzz around his current home of South Florida.
Ouali first came to the states in 2000 when a local manager from New Jersey was interested and signed him to a contract. When moving seemingly a world away from Belgium to Paterson, New Jersey Ouali spoke broken English and didn’t know anyone or where to go. “It’s like me giving you seven thousand dollars and telling you to go mind your own business. I rented an apartment in Oakland, New Jersey and started looking at different gyms. At the time I didn’t know a good trainer from a bad one so I started training with a local trainer because he was available to pick me up and drive me home from the gym. He later licensed me in small tournaments and provided me with some things I couldn’t do myself, he wasn’t the best trainer in the world,” As Ouali takes me back to a lost and confused period of his life.
When Ouali was sparring at a local gym in New Jersey legendary football coach Bill Parcells happened to walk into the gym that day and was observing the session. Parcells saw the hunger and desire in Ouali’s training and wanted to meet the young fighter. “I had no idea who he was and after I finished training he introduced himself and told me he used to coach the Giants, so I replied so you like baseball, at the time I didn’t know that the Giants were also a football team.” Bill chuckled and said, “Very funny,” explained Ouali. After the gym Parcells took Ouali to lunch at a local diner not far from the gym. Over lunch Parcells explained how he was thinking about getting involved with boxing and offered to help manage the young prospect. Part of the deal was that Said had to change his trainer to the well known, Al Soto. “At the time I was very close with my trainer and I didn’t want anyone taking charge of my career.” firmly stated Ouali. Parcells tried to convince Ouali and told him, “Listen boy, I don’t know boxing but I can see talent and I can look into someone’s eyes and be able to tell if they want it and you want it.” Still Ouali declined the offer and remained loyal. Even years later Ouali has no regrets by not accepting Parcells offer as many would have jumped at such an opportunity. The last time Ouali saw Parcells was in 2003 right before he left the New Jersey area to coach the Dallas Cowboys but assured me that if a big fight comes his way on HBO or Showtime, he will track Parcells down to make sure he will be there.
By 2004 Said caught the eyes of a manager in Florida and made the move to the sunshine state. Ouali trained with former pro and now well known trainer, Howard Davis Jr. for a little over a year then decided by the end of 2005 that Davis would not be able to take him to the next level so in stepped the legendary and controversial Carlos “Panama” Lewis. A friend introduced the two, at the time Lewis was training Sultan & Timor Ibragimov, the Russian heavyweight prospects at local gym in Coconut Creek, Florida where Ouali and Davis had trained. “Panama is a winner, that is what I like about Panama, he is the best trainer I have seen work,” emphatically said Ouali. Now the two have a very close relationship in and out of the boxing gym.
Ouali is well aware of the difficulties and shadiness in the sport of boxing. “I used to think if you are good and train hard that you will make it but what I learned is that is not always true. It’s all about your trainer, manager, promoter and matchmaker. You need the team behind you that will look out for your best interests. I have determination and I don’t cut corners,” intensely explained Ouali who feels he now is heading in the right direction.
Ouali’s first loss of his career came in 2001 in his eighth professional fight against Kermit Cintron who is today is rated in the top ten among welterweights. Although Ouali was stopped in the fifth round he surprisingly admits that was his favorite fight because he countered all of his right hands and felt that in the first four rounds that he was in charge of the fight until a broken eardrum stopped the fight. The broken eardrum was caused by a Cintron right hand in the second and by the fifth Ouali could not continue. “Cintron was one dimensional, like a robot. If I didn’t suffer that injury I feel like I would have won the fight, but he won and I will not look back.” The second loss came against the much more experienced Manning Galloway in 2004 who had nearly eighty fights compared to Ouali’s fifteen at the time. Ouali admits that he was put into certain fights too soon but has learned a lot from those two losses.
The victories that stand out in Ouali’s mind were against James Johnson in Maryland back in 2003, a fight in which he was came in as an underdog and ended up scoring a TKO in the fourth. One of the others was in his last outing against Grover Wiley that took place in Pompano Beach, Florida this past December. Wiley was riding high off of a fifth round stoppage over the legendary Julio Caesar Chavez. Ouali dominated Wiley over ten rounds and earned a lopsided unanimous decision.
Ouali then mentioned that he tried out for the first season of the hit reality television series,” The Contender” in New York. After sparring and hearing his life story the show was very interested in Ouali then later flew him out to Santa Monica, California as one of thirty finalists but was not chosen to be on the series. They are looking for more than just skills, if you are picked to be on the show you have to sign everything away. “I heard that fighters left their trainers, managers and promoters just to be on the show. My opinion is that if you fall you are going to fall hard, The Contender is good if you have nothing to lose. Trust me I am good where I am at now”, stated Ouali who is happy about the outcome.
The late boxing manager Bill Cayton once told Ouali that boxing is a dying sport. “I’ll never forget that, boxing is not the way it used to be with all of the superstars,” sadly said Ouali.
Ouali says that he always wants to satisfy the audience and feels like he is gaining more fans, in a years time could see himself in the top twenty. Hopefully more fighters with the same loyalty, drive and personality that Ouali possesses can help our sport return to the elite level it once was.
Next fight: March 31st vs. Jacy Kuhn for the Vacant USBO title at The Community Center in Port St. Lucie, FL.
Good luck Said!