Libya’s boxers recover from Qaddafi-era knockout

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 wrestling and other combat sports, was banned by Qaddafi, who considered such contests a threat to his personality cult. “We were a whole group. We were going to fight in Italy. And then, suddenly, they banned it. Why?” Zlitni said, with anger clouding his usually peaceful face. “There were friendships and love; boxing was everything,” he said, adding he regretted their way of life had been taken away and that “everyone went his own way.”

Officially, authorities considered the sport too violent — despite Qaddafi’s regime being accused for more than 40 years of atrocities including terrorism, torture, massacres of civilians and targeted assassinations.

Officially, authorities considered the sport too violent — despite Qaddafi’s regime being accused for more than 40 years of atrocities including terrorism, torture, massacres of civilians and targeted assassinations. Following Libya’s 2011 revolution, in which Qaddafi was ousted and killed, Zlitni reunited with former fighters and worked to revive boxing, re-establishing the national federation through their “own efforts.” Since then, Libyan boxers have shone in various competitions, modeling themselves after Malik Zinad, a light heavyweight fighter who found success after leaving the country for Europe. Under a tin roof, in a Tripoli barn, young fighters spar in a dusty old ring. They are striving to