Behind many a fighter there is a story of hardship. A childhood struggle, a battle against the odds. That may be, but few would stack up to the one endured by Zakaria El Jamari.
Born into a tough neighbourhood of Morocco’s capital Rabat, he found himself fighting from a young age. Surrounded by circles of his contemporaries this was no playground scrap, this was his proving ground – and the first step on his career path.
Spotted by a local boxing coach, he moved from the dusty streets to the gym and ring where he would hone his innate abilities. Surrounded by other quality fighters, he improved and by his mid-teens would be making his competitive debut.
“I had my first fight at 15,” explains El Jamari. “I won that fight via knockout.”
A stellar start, but one that would not immediately send him stardom. Instead El Jamari would toil away, mixing training with school work and fulfilling an education that was always so important to him – he now holds a degree in Arabic literature.
“Morocco has a lot of great talent,” he said. “Fighting is in our blood. People love kickboxing, Muay Thai, and all combat sports. But it is not easy to make it. I had to balance my time and energy between work and training. I would go running in the morning then go to school. Then I’d go to work. To become a professional fighter, one has to face difficulties. But it is in these difficult conditions, and not in a life of leisure, that a champion is born. A fighter needs to wait for the right timing and seize that opportunity.”
That opportunity, El Jamari decided, would not be in his homeland. Soon after the death of his father in 2015, an event he describes as the biggest difficulty he had endured, a then 26-year-old El Jamari would travel to the UAE in search of a break. Splitting his time between personal training to get by, and training to find the fights that would help propel his career.
“I always had my eye on becoming a professional fighter,” he said. “I always said to myself: I can be a coach, but I am a champion, not just a coach. I have the mentality of a champion.
Once I got my chance in Dubai, I won my fights. I eventually became a professional fighter and improved my living conditions. I knew I was on the right track.”
As the wins clocked up, so did his notoriety – but then disaster.
“I lost a fight for the WMC belt after I had prepared well, trained well, and was very confident. When I lost that fight, I chose to end my career. I was in a mental crisis.”
It was at this point El Jamari would turn to his brother, Mehdi. The two had grown up together and lived the fight game as youngsters before Mehdi would move to Spain.
“When I stopped fighting in 2020, Mehdi was the one who motivated me to continue in my career,” said Al Jamari. “He inspired me and told me that I was capable of achieving more. I worried that I wouldn’t be able to find myself again, but he pushed me on. We always motivated each other.”
It was that motivation that got him back into the ring and on the right side of a four-fight win streak that was enough to be spotted by ONE Championship.
Never one to take the easy route, El Jamari’s debut in March this year did not go to plan. A second round knockout defeat to Russia’s Ali Saldoev was a tough welcome to the world’s biggest martial arts organisation – albeit on short notice. But this is a man who has dealt with adversity, and met it head on, and will do so again this week at ONE Fight Night 22.
His opponent in the strawweight Muay Thai division is tough local competitor Thongpoon who will have the home crowd on his side at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Residing now in Abu Dhabi, and training out of the King Wolf Gym in Ras Al Khaimah El Jamari is a fighter born out of Morocco but with deep connections to the UAE, and while he knows his task on Saturday morning Middle East time will be a tough on – he is seeing it as his next step on the road to a world title.
“Thongpoon is a very good fighter. He has powerful hands and feet,” he said. “But he also has weak points. I think he can be reckless at times and I will look to take advantage of that.
“My game plan is to continuously press him and wait for the opening. Whenever he feels the pressure, he will attack recklessly, and I’ll be waiting to capitalize on that.
“My feeling is that I will beat him. I believe it will be a second-round knockout.”
ONE Fight Night 22 comes live from the famed Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand on Saturday May 4 at 4am GST. For more information on watching this blockbuster event see watch.onefc.com
