It is November 2025. Mohammed Abdulrahim is in Thailand. All alone. Three months earlier he was in Australia and tasted his first professional loss as a boxer.
Hoping to put it behind him, he asks a stranger to sit in the corner of the ring. Not so that the person will be able to lead him to profit, but so that he will have some form of support behind him.
The bell rings and the first round is underway. Shortly after, the opponent is on the floor after a body blow. Mohammed gets his hand raised, but no time to celebrate. Two weeks later he is standing there again. In that match, the clock has time to ring twice instead of once, but it won't be more than that. Mohammed wins in the second round, once again via body punch.
- I would not have recommended it (to play two games in two weeks), says Mohammed's manager, Madjit Yakubov.
At the time, however, the boxer was his own manager and made the decision to distance himself from the loss in Australia as quickly as possible.
It is not entirely unusual for boxers to stand alone in the ring early in their career, says Abdulrahim.
He also knew that when he chose to take "the tough road".
Mohammed Abdulrahim was raised as a boxer in Oskarhamn and Malmö. The 29-year-old has been boxing since he was eleven years old, and has over 100 amateur bouts and eleven professional bouts under his belt. When we meet in his gym in Stockholm, three months have passed since the most important match of his career. We'll get back to that, but first he talks about the decision to leave amateur boxing for professional life.
From the beginning, the plan was to box in the Olympics before the professional career, and the goal seemed to be within reach. In 2018, he became Swedish champion in the 60-kilogram class, which he thought would give him the chance to represent Sweden and qualify for the Olympics.
That was not the case. The SM gold gave him second place in the Swedish ranking.
- He who won SM gold the year before me got the chance instead. He was injured when I won the gold, so they meant I couldn't be ranked number one. Then I said "we can meet and then take it from there".
But a match for first place never happened. Mohammed was done with amateur boxing and started his professional career.
- I wouldn't say it's that common. Taking the hard way. Many quit after their amateur career because it is such a tough road to walk, to become a professional, he says.
If you go pro, there are more things to worry about than boxing itself. In many cases, new professional boxers lack sponsors and other support, and must then be responsible for the financing of their matches.
- This is the case even if you have had a good amateur career. If I go internationally and say I'm a Swedish or Nordic champion, they don't know what that is. It is an uphill climb to go from amateur to professional, if you have not participated in major international competitions such as the EC, WC or Olympics.
The door to the Olympics opened again for Mohammed, but it was too small a gap to get through.
The boxer who had the first place in the Swedish ranking was injured and the chance went to Mohammed. Late. The Olympic qualifiers were about to start and there was not enough time to prepare.
"King Mo", as he is called in the ring, was also done with amateur life at that time.
- For me, it was pretty clear when they didn't give me the chance after the SM. Then I felt that I wanted nothing to do with them. It was of course not fun to lose such an opportunity, but in retrospect it feels like the right decision. It's easy to get caught up in the amateur world.
The job ahead was not like amateur boxing. Now he could no longer "just sign up for an event". Instead, Mohammed was expected to be responsible for the entire investment, with finances, training and the mental part of the sport he himself describes as stressful.
- It will be quite difficult financially. I needed to work full time, pay the matches and do all the hard work myself without any support.
At the beginning of the professional career, you have to climb, and that via a tactical ladder to rank higher and higher.
- The further you go, the tougher the decisions. You have to face tougher opponents, but reasonable ones. Then it's about money too. Tougher matches have larger prize sums.
If you want to challenge someone for a better place in the ranking, you are responsible for the financial pieces. If you are challenged, and thus risk losing your position in the ranking, then you receive a prize sum.
Today, the 29-year-old does not take care of such things himself anymore. Not after the friend and colleague made a joke.
- Mohammed told me that he carried all the burden himself, so I joked that I would be his manager. We joked a bit back and forth about it and he said "yeah, drive". Then there wasn't much more to it until we asked ourselves the question "why not?", says Madjit Yakubov.
Madjit and Mohammed work together as security guards at the nightclub Spy bar in Stockholm. Madjit has been a boxer himself, and Mohammed's career became a topic of conversation they often returned to.
- I called up some contacts and some companies agreed to sponsor us. Then it's just history. One day we're just friends pushing something, the next day we're working together and aiming for the stars, says manager Madjit Yakubov.
With a trainer and a manager, and sponsors behind it all, Mohammed Abdulrahim has been given the chance to focus on what he has to do in the ring. Most recently, the trio traveled to Istanbul, where the WBC's Greater Turan super featherweight (59kg) belt was up for grabs. A regional belt that is the fourth highest in one of the boxing world's most recognized organizations.
When Dazn, who broadcast the match, presented the "29-year-old, 173-centimeter-tall boxer, with a record of one loss, nine wins and four wins via knockout", Mohammed Abdulrahim stepped forward.
Behind him stood coach Dorian Cefalan and manager Madjit Yakubov, who raised his arm and waved his index finger upward, seemingly at the stars?
In the fourth round, the 29-year-old landed the same punch that forced him to the first and only loss of his career, and the same punch he later used to win two straight bouts in Thailand: a body punch. It caused Pakistani opponent Mukhtiar Ahmed Kakar to go to the floor a second time. Seconds later he went down again, and then the referee decided to end the match.
- After he went down, he didn't look that upset, but I knew deep down that I had broken him down. I still chose to keep my cool and control. He will go down, I thought, says Mohammed Abdulrahim.
The tactic proved victorious. After thanking his opponent, and then allowing himself to be lifted up by his manager, Mohammed Abdulrahim received his belt and was able to title himself champion.
- You have to experience it yourself, it's hard to explain. All the nervousness, all the hard work lets go and only joy flows out.
On December 19, Mohammed returns to Istanbul. No one has challenged for his belt, so now he will instead fight for the WBC gold belt, which is two steps up from the one he won in June.
Should he win again, it will be a big jump in the global ranking for his weight class, which he is currently number 369 at. The goal is to climb to the top 40 within 4â5 games.
- We try to climb as many belts as possible. We are climbing up the world rankings, now it could be 150 places up, next game maybe another 50. Slowly but surely we will climb to top one, says Mohammed "King Mo" Abdulrahim.
