TRIPOLI: Omar Zlitni holds a decades-old, black-and-white photo of himself as a boxer in his prime, posing in shorts and a training vest before Libya’s then-dictator, Muammar Qaddafi, banned his beloved sport. Boxing was “in his blood,” said the 63-year-old Tripoli resident who proudly keeps the image as his phone’s wallpaper. In 1979, he was just 19 when boxing, along with
Omar Zlitni holds a decades-old, black-and-white photo of himself as a boxer in his prime, posing in shorts and a training vest before Libya's then-dictator, Moamer Kadhafi, banned his beloved sport.
"I love it because it gives you self-confidence, so that when you encounter any problem, you can overcome the problems on your own. And it allows you to have a sense of responsibility and remove negative energy." Omar Bouhwiyah, kickboxer