HAMBURG, Germany – Less than three years ago, Billy Dib was told he had lost his final fight.
Cancer was taking hold of him and the former two-time world champion’s life would soon be over.
Back then, one more month, one more year – either – would have been a triumph, and an unlikely one.
But the all-clear eventually came, and with cancer in the rear-view mirror, Dib decided to raise his middle finger to it and fight again.
On Thursday, the Australian will return to the ring to say goodbye on his terms.
Here in Germany, he gets to put the horrors of the last few years behind him and lace up the gloves one last time.
“Honestly, it’s a bit of a dream come true,” he said, unable to contain the smile on his face. “When I was sick and not doing well, I remember sitting in the hospital and thinking, ‘I’m not gonna get out of this place.’ I was that ill. I was thinking, ‘I’m not getting out of here,’ and then my uncle Angelo would say to me, ‘One day at a time. We’ll start by doing a little bit of walking, then a little bit of jogging.’ Slowly but surely, things started to come around. I started to feel better. I started to feel human again. When you’re on that chemotherapy, you feel a bit of an alien. You’re going through certain things.”
Dib’s resolve couldn’t have been greater, but then his strength started to return. He had only before dared to dream of surviving cancer, but now another dream started to manifest itself, and it was at the WBC’s Convention last year, during the organization’s Fight Night in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Dib was sitting with manager Robert Diaz – also a cancer survivor – and WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman, and they were chatting.
“Can you imagine if I had a farewell fight?” Dib recalled.
“If you want to do it, we’ll do it,” said Sulaiman.
“Could you imagine, though? It would be unbelievable,” Dib said.
“I went home, started doing a bit of training here and there and got my team back together, training, started feeling good, and then I rang Maurico and said, ‘Look, are you serious about this thing? Because if you are, I’m starting to feel OK.’”
“If you want to do it, we’ll do it,” replied Sulaiman.
“I’d love to.”
Sulaiman insisted Dib provide him with a doctor’s clearance so he visited his haematologist, who told him he could return to the ring.
Dib will box eight rounds on Thursday night, and says he’s in “fantastic shape.”
“I’ve taken it serious,” he added. “Regardless of if the opponent’s a world champion or not, I’ve left no stone unturned, as if I’m fighting a world champion.”
Having already won the biggest fight of his life, Dib has no fears of what he might face in the ring. A consummate pro, Dib – whose last fight was in March 2022 – is relishing the opportunity of being on the stage when the curtain comes down on his 48-6 (27 KOs) career.
“Honestly, I’m not nervous at all, about any of this stuff,” he explained. “To me, it’s regardless of the result, whether it’s a win, a lose or a draw, it’s like just a dream come true. It’s a privilege. To be able to get back in the ring after being told you’d be dead in six months, and to be leaving on my own terms, is just amazing. It’s the best feeling in the world.
“I’m actually super-excited about it. I’ve made a promise to myself that this will be the last time that I do it, so I’ll go out with a bang. I’ll do it my way.”
Dib has used his own journey to help others. He has become a spokesman and an advocate. Overcoming the odds as he has done sends a message to those facing battles that are equally daunting, and it is those Dib wants to help the most.
“This is basically a way to inspire people, that regardless of what it is you’re going through in your life, with a bit of faith, hope and belief, you can do whatever you want,” he said.
But Sydney’s Dib, while still a dreamer, is also pragmatic. He is 39 years old. He is not the spritely Billy “The Kid” of old. Instead, he’s a cancer survivor with a very different point to prove. He knows he is not what he was in his pomp, but he knows what he has come through and what it has taken. Therein lies the new Billy Dib. The “honest fighter.”
“You know, you often have glimpses of greatness when you’re in the gym,” he said, talking about the last few weeks of camp. “You’ll do something in the gym where you’re like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I can still do that.’ I had a few of those glimpses in training. But I’m a realist. I know I’m not the fighter that I was. Once upon a time, I was a fleet-footed, fast-moving puncher, and now I’m not that anymore. I’m just an honest fighter. The skills diminish. You always have that belief in your mind that you can do what you used to do when you were younger, but the truth is the body and the mind has its rights over us, and the rights have caught up with me – but not to the point where I can’t still dance. I still can.”
This will be the last dance. There are no promises of homecomings, title runs, no call-outs and not even any fighting talk. This is Dib finishing his boxing story, crafting the final chapter in a way he always hoped might be possible but had been told was quite the opposite.
“The result doesn’t matter because I’ve already won,” he said, smiling again. “I’m alive and I’m here now to tell the story. So I’ve already won. For me, it’s about getting out there and having a little bit of fun in the ring, and regardless of the result, I’m going out on my own terms.”
In fact, Dib smiles almost the entire time we talk. He’s always had an infectious personality; he’s always been known for his positivity. A few days on from Mexican star Israel Vazquez, one of boxing’s great warriors, losing his bout with cancer just three weeks shy of his 47th birthday, his is a memory that Dib will carry with him to the ring on Thursday. It is likely to be emotional, but Dib will savor every moment of his last dance and hope to return to Australia with it in a time capsule in his mind.
“I tell you what, I’m not doing this just for myself,” he said. “I’m doing this for every single person who’s gone through cancer and everyone who’s succumbed to it. This is my fight for cancer. I wanna be that person who inspires people, to know we all go through certain things. And I know that Israel Vazquez is resting in the highest levels of heaven now. I know he’s in a much better place. He’s not suffering anymore. And that could have been me. But God chose me to be around for a reason, and I’m going to come good with that reason. I’m not saying this because it’s a cliché thing to say, but I’m dedicating this fight to Israel Vazquez and to every single person who’s succumbed to it and everyone who’s going through it. I really mean that from the bottom of my heart.”
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