David Rajuili: ‘Seeing my son fighting in the hospital brought back a lot of fight inside of me’
Rajuili returns to the ring on March 30th to take on the undefeated Alaa Al Mahmoud in the Netherlands
On March 30th in the Netherlands, David Rajuili will compete in the 27th fight of his professional career against the undefeated Alaa Al Mahmoud. But the South African boxer was so close to hanging up his gloves last year. A former WBF African lightweight champion and a road warrior who has boxed in Germany, Denmark, France, Slovenia, as well as his native country, Rajuili has had a thrilling career, filled with ups and downs.
As the saying goes ‘Father time is undefeated’ and at the age of 35, no one would blame Rajuili for retiring. However, Rajuili has been fighting his whole life and when his newborn son bravely battled to stay alive in an Intensive Care Unit, a new form of motivation was instilled within him.
“As you all know I wanted to hang up my gloves last year and having my son being born, seeing him fighting in the hospital, those three months in ICU brought back a lot of fight inside of me,” said Rajuili.
“I’m from a fighting family. This is what we do, we are fighters. So for me to just hang up my gloves last year didn’t feel right. You know, watching my son in ICU for so long, it brought back a lot of fire and this is why I made the decision to come back into boxing. I had this fire. A little voice came to say ‘Bro, this cannot be it.’ There’s so much fight left in you. Look at your son fighting and you’re fighters. You cannot now just let it go when there’s so much left in you. This is who you are. This is who I am. I fight for a living.”
Rajuili’s last fight was against Anthony Yigit in Denmark. He came up short on the judge's scorecards but produced a great performance under the circumstances. Yigit is well-known by boxing fans for sharing the ring with Rolando Romero, Keyshawn Davis, and Denys Berinchyk in recent years. The judges scored the contest 59-55, 60-53, and 58-56 in favour of Yigit but it was an all-action spectacle and Rajuili had his moments.
“When I went to fight Anthony Yigit, my son was born on the week of the fight. He went straight into ICU. He was prematurely born so I went quickly to Denmark. I was just thinking about my son. Next day I came straight home. I didn't even hear about what happened. Just watching my son there, I’m from a family of fighters. My mum was a fighter in the political world and we’ve just been taught to keep fighting for whatever we believe in.”
2023 was a mixed year for Rajuili who fought four times. It started with a majority decision win over Djiby Diagne in Holland but then three consecutive losses were suffered to Jaouad Belmehdi, Hamsat Shadalov, and most recently Yigit.
It’s simple to say this was an unsuccessful period for Rajuili yet boxing consistently shows us that opportunities are just as important as results. And of course, it always depends on who you’re trading leather with - an unbeaten record may look good on paper, although it’s the calibre of opponents you face and the exciting bouts you’re involved in which ultimately raise your stock.
Since turning professional in 2012, Rajuili has never shied away from the toughest challenges, hence why he chose to battle three high-quality opponents in a row last year in or near their respective homelands. The last time Rajuili fought in South Africa was in 2016 when he challenged Sydney Maluleka for the IBF African featherweight title.
“I always brought wars. Fights were incredible that I had. I fought two Olympians last year with Shadalov and Yigit. Shadalov put me down three times but I finished the fight - I gave him one of his toughest fights. So, yes, I lost on paper but for me and my fans I won in the boxing world and I think I keep on winning the hearts of promoters, the hearts of the fight fans.
“In my career, I was never to be a 50-0 fighter, I don’t believe in that. But I always believed in giving good fights, amazing fights. Two years ago, people can still speak about it and say ‘Remember David, remember what one hell of a fight he gave.’ Win or lose, for me that’s a win.
“I'm South African and I’m in Germany. I’ll always be in the away corner. No matter where I go in this world. Unless I go back home to fight. So as long as I’m on the road like a road warrior, I’m always in the away corner. My job is to obviously train to win but to also give the fight fans one hell of a fight when they come and see me fight. Leave a little seed or spark in someone’s life.”
Instead of taking an easy fight following so much personal trauma, Rajuili is set to face a much bigger and stronger opponent than he is used to. After weighing in at less than 135 lbs for the majority of his career, ‘The Dangerous Darkie’ will move up to 154 pounds for the first time. Rajuili made his debut at 117 lbs over ten years ago and has never weighed in higher than 144.5 lbs.
“Most of you all know I fluctuate between the lightweight division and super lightweight. Over December I grew a little bit so I’ll be coming to the super welterweight division. Yes, I’ll be going up to 68 kg. So it's a different, you could say, weight class for me. It’s a new challenge. Bigger guys. So I’m very excited, overall, to step back into the ring.
“Yes, he [Mahmoud] sits at 9-0 but he’s really fought nobodies whereas I have been challenged throughout my career. I’ve fought some champions. I’ve fought people that are champions at the moment and I’ve taken these guys, some of the fights I’ve had, I’ve taken the guys into deep waters and I haven’t really been stopped by big names like Yigit and stuff. And even after the fight with Yigit, that’s when I looked at myself to say ‘Yo bro, you just fought an elite fighter and you did so well.’ 50-50, some people had me winning, some people had it as a draw.”
The reality is Rajuili will be a massive underdog when he fights Mahmoud next month at the Sporthal de Willisstee arena. Regardless, if there is a boxer who deserves to cause a major upset and continue to improve his family’s life, it is David Rajuili.
“I lost my [another] son also three years ago when I had an emptiness. Doing all these fights, I’m fighting for my son. I had this emptiness. But when my son was born, I had a feeling of fullness inside of me and that’s why when I came back I said to everybody ‘I don’t feel like I did it at 1000 percent.’ I did it, yes, at my best. But right now, at this age, what’s happened in the last couple of months, how it refuelled me. I feel I’m ready to give my 1000 percent to the sport and yeah I’m ready to give it my all once again and just to bash it.
“Let my son grow and see me fight once or twice. My daughter loves it - she comes with me to training every time, watches me train and she’s come to my fights and to take that away from them it also doesn’t feel right. So it’s for my family, for myself, and also for the fight fans. Let me give them 1000 of David Rajuili and I believe this year is going to be a good year.”
Thank you so much for your support of Boxing Fanatics. If you want to support my work even further, feel free to upgrade to a paid subscription.
Follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniele-d-alessio-5b4636168/
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanPDalessio
Subscribe to my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BoxingFanatics
About Daniele D’Alessio: Over the last few years Dan has written hundreds of articles for websites such as GiveMeSport, Sportskeeda, WorldInSport, NY Fights and Fights ATW in addition to conducting several interviews with professional and amateur boxers.