Al Dah vows to take boxing to new heights

Dubai:  The UAE's lone professional boxer has promised to take the sport to greater heights, now with the opening of a dedicated boxing training centre in the country.

Named Xtreme Generation, Eisa Al Dah's dedicated boxing centre along Shaikh Zayed Road had a soft opening earlier this month.

"Nobody can be a champion overnight. One has to train hard every day without respite and one has to learn how to live the sport and make it part of your life," Al Dah told Gulf News after returning from his fight against American Anthony Woods at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, last week.

The fight was presented by the Heavyweight Factory as part of their second bi-monthly "Tuesday Night Fights" show entitled "Rise of the Heavyweights".

Woods, gifted with a much better reach due to his height, improved his career record to 7-3, while the UAE boxer suffered his second loss in eight fights.

"But what I want to do is not just about Eisa. I want to do something for the kids in the UAE, and this dedicated boxing gym is the first step," Al Dah promised.

"My idea is to get the kids around here and train them in a methodical manner. People think of boxing as a dangerous sport, but it is not so. Boxing has so much to offer to life and living such as discipline and responsibility," Al Dah said.

"I have a plan in mind, a strategy that will put this sport up as something that the country can be proud of.

For my first fight in 2007 there were just 500 people and by the next time I had more than 3,000 attending. And now after just three years and traveling around the world especially in the UK and the US and fighting against and meeting the best in the sport, I realise the need to do something for the sport right here," he added.

The boxer admitted that there has been a lot of demand from UAE residents that he fight right here. "Yes, I would love to fight among my own people, but I cannot do this when I am not fully prepared for such a responsibility..." Al Dah said.