Love for the sport brought Sadam Ali back to boxing after six-year layoff

Nearly six years after his last fight, former junior middleweight titleholder Sadam Ali returns to the ring on February 23. His goal isn’t a mega-fight; instead he is trying to scratch the itch of missing the sport he started when he was eight years old. 

Ali will fight Victoriano Santillan at Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York in an eight-round bout.

The fight isn’t a one-off.  Ali, 36, is back. The next move at this point is rather unclear, but the passion is as strong as ever.

“Boxing has been with me my whole life,” Ali told BoxingScene. “What have I done other than boxing? Since I was eight years old I boxed and I learned to love it. I miss it. I had been boxing for so long, I needed a break,” Ali shared.

He won the WBO junior middleweight title in 2017 with a unanimous decision over Miguel Cotto, sending the Puerto Rican legend into retirement. His first title defense was against Jaime Munguia, who stopped Ali in four rounds. Ali would fight two more times, defeating Mauricio Herrera, before being stopped again by Anthony Young in 2019. After the stoppage to Young, Ali took a break.

“It got to a point where I love boxing, but it started to feel like a job,” Ali, 27-3 (13 KOs), said. “It might not be that way for a lot of people, but for me, it was a career I loved to do and something that made me happy.”

Boxing was Ali’s passion. On numerous occasions he brought up that he loved the thrill of victory. He enjoyed taking pictures with the fans and all that came with it. He loved being a professional boxer at a high-level, but the monotonous nature of being a pro boxer, where the days tend to blur together, began to feel, as Ali said, like “a job.” He believed he needed a break and he had become more aware of the dangers of boxing. The boxing bug came back when he started working with two influencers involved in crossover boxing. 

So, what brings Ali back now?  

“I just want to get back in there. I really missed the feeling of being victorious,” Ali said. “Winning, performing in front of people, especially now that I’m coming back and I’m fighting in my hometown.”

Santillan, a 30-year-old fighter from Argentina, has made a career out of taking hard fights and having a journeyman’s career. His record of 13-7-2 (8 KOs) also reflects that. He also has been a lot more active than Ali. He has fought 10 times since Ali retired. 

Although Santillan doesn’t have the pedigree of Ali, he is still a professional fighter who has had mixed success and is willing and able. Ali is clear that he is excited to be back and fighting at home. Where his new journey leads, only time will tell.

“People may say, ‘This sounds like a nice guy,’ but I really do miss taking pictures with people and showing people respect and love, because I’ve been raised a certain way,” Ali said. “I’ve been raised with nothing but love. That’s really what I want to give. I like it when people are recognizing [that] I’m an actual fighter who actually has to punch people in the face.”

Lucas Ketelle took an unconventional path to boxing, eventually finding his stride in gyms and media. For the past decade, he has hosted the “Lukie Boxing” podcast, filmed training camps for fighters like Arnold Barboza Jnr, Mikey Garcia and Caleb Plant, and worked with top professionals such as Mike Bazzel. Ketelle is also an author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for ProBox TV, BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @LukieBoxing.