Biography

At the age of 18, Mustafa El-Kadmiri started boxing in 2007 in a small city gym called 'Faith and
Hope', in Syracuse, New York. Missing his birthplace he travelled back to London, England and
continued boxing at a local club in Islington by the name of 'Times ABC'.
He began competing just a year later but during the last bout at the gym, he damaged his left wrist.
It was at the hospital, where they told him the extreme extent of his injury and that he had a
ruptured cartilage.

Mustafa didn't box for a year until his wrist had fully recovered. During that year he witnessed other
boxers, as beginner's progress rapidly within their fitness and technical ability, which made him
feel left out.
With that feeling he found the hunger and will in himself to train again. He met a South American
boxer, named Arturo Delgardo and approached him after seeing him train at the gym consistently.
He was impressed by the ambition Mustafa had for boxing and was keen to offer him the
opportunity to develop his existing skills and knowledge as a Boxer.
While training with his new coach he was advised to fight semi-pro, even though he had personal
concerns over his fitness. Those concerns faded away as soon as he started training twice a day,
fitting in his training schedule before and after his work commitments.
He began to realize and gain confidence in his ability as a boxer and in doing so, his boxing
knowledge and experience progressed week by week. This led to him making the decision to fight
again and Mustafa began to up his game, training at a higher intensity level and with less rest time
so that he could begin to compete at semi-pro level. Through the physical and mental difficulties
that he faced, Mustafa found the strength and drive to push him beyond the limit and conditioned
his mind body and spirit in a way that most young men at his age and time do not have the
character and focus for.
His family has played a big factor in his lifestyle and progression as a Boxer, supporting him by
preparing meals for him before and after training. He believes socializing together as a committed
family unit can help anyone build the strength to stay strong and dedicated to their passions.
Everybody sees an extremely high potential in him, and believes that he can make it big as a
professional Boxer. His mum always lets him know that she's proud and hopes that he can one
day achieve his dreams and goals.

Interview

How did you get your start in boxing?

I started off doing judo and jujitsu, which my older brother forced me to do, and didn't feel like it
was right for me but I carried on training anyway. I moved to America and was recommended to a
boxing class. I started to love the training and the more I started to come, the more they took
interest in me. I then realised this sport was for me. I went back to London and I carried on boxing
and refused to go to judo and jujitsu because I realised boxing was my craft.

What does your family think of you boxing?

They don't seem to be pleased with the path I have taken and the goals that I want to achieve. I
came to a decision to box and that's something which they've had to accept. They will be by my
side whether it's for the better or worse as much as they can. If there's anything they can do they
will be glad to support me in those areas. That's true dedication and loyalty right there. With being
a boxer there's so much sacrifice I have to make, i.e. socialising less with family and friends.
Growing up, who are some of the fighters that you admired?
Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Mike Tyson, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Pernell Whitaker,
Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez, Yassine El Maachi and Giovanni 'Arturo' Delgado.
How would you describe your style?
Orthodox and hard to hit, the only way I can describe my style is. I'm a mixture of Sugar Ray
Leonard and Pernell Whitaker. Those two styles are what I want to perfect.
How would you describe your first semi-pro fight?
I was so excited because I had my fans right behind me. I had my song blazing the place down.
My crowd was roaring louder than his crowd. I wasn't nervous at all, just adrenaline pumping and
my heart racing. Just wanted to get show-time started and, show them what time it is and let
everyone know what I'm about.

What are your biggest strengths?

I can't give up and can keep on going. Staying positive and always surrounding myself with people
that are willing to achieve like me to progress and reach success. If I fail in something, I always get
up and push harder, moving forwards.
How do your strengths help you perform?
What I learnt from both my strengths and weaknesses is how to solve problems and approach
certain situations, and be careful of every move I make and step I take. I'll be alert and be on the
ball until I get the outcome.
What is your greatest weakness?
Being a failure to my life in putting my family down and not managing to achieve things I've always
wanted in my life. For example, having my own place, a beautiful wife, kids and teaching them the
right way, making them look up to me and be a better role model.
How highly do you rate yourself?
I see myself as a person who's got so much to learn and I'm not even half way there. Because not
a lot of people understand that boxing, it's not just about fighting. It's an art. The movements we
make as boxers are like chess players. It's about timing of when to throw a punch, which is slowly
improving by constantly sparing with different opponents and putting practise into work. Diet plays
a big part in my craft by having the right nutrition at the right time to either gain, lose or maintain
weight.

Are you worried about injury?

If I snap or severely injure my wrist I wouldn't be able to continue boxing ever again and would
have to be able to deal with the consequences in future. Such as taking care of my family, caring
for my new born and I wouldn't be able to physically help anybody who is in need.
What is your major achievement?
That I actually had the guts to get in the ring, with all those nerves in my chest, and felt like the
insides wanted to jump out my throat. The closer I get to the ring the more nervous I feel. When
that bell rings that's when it's show time. Knowing that I have given all my might in that ring with
every strength that I had left, putting as much work as I did in training and trying to put that into
practise in the fight.
What was your major disappointment?
When I had my first defeat because of the lack of training hard, not resting and not being more
mentally focused.
Where do you see yourself in the years to come?
I want to be that person that's known for something extraordinary, showing people what tools I
have and how I use them at the right moment and to be the only person in my family that's
achieved a status in the sport such as boxing and also have something to tell my future family.

Do you get paid and how does it contribute to your lifestyle?

It's a work in progress and its one of those things that I have to build a profile, increasing my
reputation to get noticed and most importantly, build a strong team. The more we work with each
other, the quicker we progress and finances will start to grow and will be divided to each member
of the team.

Year Without Boxing

The following is a piece of writing Mustafa wrote during a time in hospital after being injured during
a fight. He ruptured his cartilage in his left wrist and his fighting career was on the line. In his words
this is how he felt at this defining moment.

Life without boxing feels like a hole in my heart. Not having any participation in a physical activity is
like no point in living my life. Having the operation taught me to not walk on thin ice for too long in
future. Being in the hospital felt like going to jail and getting an execution, waiting for hours,
sweating and stressed thinking for the worse. It felt like I was waiting for years wondering how my
future was going to be like. Having my wrist operated on felt like a stop to my leading success.
Being at home day to day, week by week got me thinking. I can't stop here now because my hand
is in a situation. This is the 5th month now of my wrist slowly healing, giving less movement than
usual, and am still stressed and not happy because I can't do what I want. But I thank Allah for
giving me a successful operation, this has giving me time to spend a lot more time with my mum
and to get closer to her building our relationship stronger.

Personal Response

I've known Mustafa from childhood when we were playing together as infants and kept in contact
from time to time. I managed to bump into him and he had told me he had a fight coming up and if
I could be there to support him. I agreed to the invitation and an idea came to mind to follow his
journey as part of a press photography photojournalism unit that I'm studying, and it seemed like a
perfect photojournalism story. This book documents his first semi-pro fight.

The requirements of my brief are to shoot only in black and white, and comply with issues of
legislation, privacy and constraints. I've respected privacy, and because I already have a close
friendship with my subject, it makes it easy for me to be around him and photograph the personal
side of him that I'd like to portray without any concerns. I always sought permission from my
subjects before publishing, to confirm they've been represented in the right manner and will not
mislead viewers or misrepresent my subjects in any way.
The first constraint was obviously scheduling. In order for this project to work, we both had to
collaborate when it was convenient for both of us due to our separate commitments. For Mustafa it
was training and work. For me it was college and work. And often our commitments would clash,
so it would be very difficult to arrange a meeting. When we did meet, I had a structure in place by
setting out my intentions for work to be carried out and also to visually document whatever
happened at the time of our meetings through photography.
There was no set budget as such since we both shared and possessed the necessary knowledge,
commitment, equipment and skills in order to make this project a success. The only cost was to
place an order for a book to be made online to show our work and we both chose a large
landscape size format with a clean and simple style. Mustafa being a graphic designer designed
the front cover in Adobe Photoshop. The page layout of the book is on the selected images that
work best to represent his story.

My experience during this project is that my camera enabled me access and took me deep into
Mustafa's boxing lifestyle and world that I previously didn't see, even though I've been his close
friend for many years. Sharing the same important moment as my subject in his first semi-pro fight,
made me acknowledge his particular unique struggle which we both appreciated isn't easy. Having
the opportunity to do this project has been a real blessing. It is an honour to have worked in
collaboration with someone I grew up with and have known for so long.
The challenges I faced and worked hard to solve was when I was ringside. I didn't want to get in
the way of viewers because they'd paid a lot of money for their ticket to enjoy the best view. I had
to work my way around the ring and not disturb their viewing of the proceeding fight. Another
challenge was getting my focus point to target my subjects instead of the ropes of the ring. I used
a slow shutter speed because it was quite dark and I needed to let more light into the lens and as a
result, some of my images turned out blurry. A flash gun would have been handy to fill out any
underexposed and dark areas that we were in. The camera used is a Canon EOS 6D Digital SLR
Camera with 24-105mm Lens.
My major goal was to work with Mustafa to make art, to create a remarkable and unique image of a
boxer that surprised and delighted me. What you have seen is an insight through my lens which is
'All About Mustafa El-Kadmiri'.

Ilias Ramli is a photographer looking to capture an early

moment in the career of a young aspiring boxer. He is
currently studying Photography at London College of
Contemporary Arts.
Mustafa EL Kadmiri is a boxer based in London who
has recently begun fighting at the semi-pro level. He has
been training since 2007 and aspires to take his boxing
to a professional level.
This book documents his first fight using a combination
of ringside photography and written interviews. It is an
insight into the struggles of boxing and follows
Mustafa's triumphant first semi-pro fight.