Life Chapter: Final Fight and Forgotten Laughter

For the last two weeks, I met two people from my past.

The first one was Mohamed El Marchouhi, an old classmate of mine. He’s a boxer and won the African (ABU) Super Lightweight title back in 2017. I’m using his full name since he’s low-key famous.

I went to see the last boxing match of his career. I felt like I should be there, so I went to Molenbeek for the boxing gala. I was there for one of his first fights back in the day, and I wanted to be there for the last one of his boxing career.

There was some TV coverage about him as well. I found it amazing that he was finally getting credit for his efforts. He has done a lot for the youth of Brussels and for his city, Molenbeek.

The venue was in full swing. It was in Tour & Taxis, La Gare Maritime, a stunning location, beautifully renovated, and it has a lot of history.

At a certain point, after watching two hours of boxing matches, I wanted to stretch my legs. I stood up and went to see some boxers warm up for the next matches, and that’s when I saw Mohamed giving an interview.

I wanted to rush over because I was genuinely happy to see him. But I noticed the camera and thought: let’s not bother him. So I stopped.

Then we made eye contact.

I saw that he was shocked to see me. He couldn’t believe I was there. He told the interview guy, “One second, I need to speak to this guy. It has been 18 years since I saw him last.”

So I approached, smiling, and he said, “What are you doing here?”

I simply answered, “I told you I would come, didn’t I?” while smirking.

He was smiling. He asked how I had been, we hugged, and we started to talk and catch up.

A lot of questions and answers in short bursts.

We talked and laughed.

At some point, the cameraman started filming us, and that’s when I took my leave. I told him, “Hey, let’s catch up another time. I think you’re needed, and you need to prep for the fight.”

He asked me to swing by at the end of the boxing gala. I nodded, went back to my seat, and watched the rest of the matches.

Then his moment came. After four hours of waiting and anticipation, his fight was about to start.

The crowd went wild, cheering loudly and chanting his name. I couldn’t stop smiling, but I stayed focused and filmed as much as I could.

After introductions, the fight began. I watched him box. Great form, great technique. He didn’t even compare to the previous matches. It was genuinely great seeing him box.

At the end, he was declared the winner. The crowd went insane, chanting his name for what felt like hours.

He held a speech, thanking everyone for coming, and thanking his old and new coach. Some representative of the city of Brussels was there too, thanking him for his effort and for what he has done for the youth of Brussels.

After the speech, a lot of people went into the ring. I went too, excited, I stepped onto the ring. I paid attention not to be in anyone’s way, but since everyone wanted pictures with him, I wanted one too.

Eventually, it got too crowded around him, so I decided to step out of the ring, sit on a chair, and enjoy the view from afar.

I remember thinking: “This is his moment. All I can do is witness it.”

So I sat there, smiling, proud, and happy for my friend I hadn’t seen in 18 years.

People started to leave, and I decided to try again to get a picture with him. I tried several times, but people kept swarming him, and the press wanted another victory speech from him.

Eventually, I approached and said, “Hey man, I’m going. Congrats on your win. We’ll see each other soon.”

He replied, “Yeah, we will. Stay in touch.”

I left, looked back once, stood still, grinned at the crowd still around him, and kept walking. I was never able to get that picture, but I’m left with a great memory.

A day later, he thanked me, we exchanged some messages, and everything went well. If everything goes as planned, I’ll be doing a photo shoot at his gym soon. I’ll be sure to get a pic with him then. Normally another friend from school was supposed to come too, but his daughter got sick.

I thought I wasn’t ready to meet people from my past. I’m glad I was wrong.

A week after the boxing event, I reconnected with my first girlfriend and Gwen. They were besties at school, and it showed.

We exchanged a lot of laughter. My face hurt from all the jokes and the stories from the past.

I got to know Gwen through my first girlfriend, but they somehow lost touch. So the three of us together was fun.

I kept redirecting the conversation back to them so they could catch up as much as possible without me being the center of the conversation. They used to be inseparable, and they somehow lost touch.

I don’t know if it was the right thing to do, but I wanted them to reminisce and reconnect.

And they did. I heard stories I haven’t heard before. Seeing their friendship reignite like there was no time in between was a great thing to see.

I wanted those two to reconnect with each other because best friends don’t come along very often. But honestly, it was also just good seeing my first girlfriend again.

She changed in a good way.

She used to be timid and shy. Well, she’s not anymore. She’s very lively and happy, and that’s all I ever hoped for. We caught up quite a lot.

Later, when I was sitting in my car on the way home, something my old man used to say popped into my head:

“In order to know where you’re going, you need to know where you’re coming from.”

He used to say that when we talked about history.

And I wondered on the drive home if this doesn’t apply to what I have been doing.

Is it really only about nostalgia, or am I looking at the past for answers that would help me remember something I have long forgotten?

Before I got lost in thought, I maxed out the volume to drown out the thoughts and just enjoy the ride home.

I didn’t want to overthink the reconnection I had, so later that night I shifted my mind to what’s next: the upcoming vacation.

I am going to Spain for a week with my mom. I asked her a while ago if she wanted to go on vacation with me, since my dad doesn’t want to travel anymore. At least, he doesn’t want to go far.

My mom is an expat, and I know she misses going to Spain and hanging out with people from Spain.

I booked a luxury hotel and planned the trip. I told her the things I planned: a camel ride, a boat trip, all the stuff I do that I know my mom has never done. She was up for it.

I always had the feeling my mom was adventurous. She would go to theme parks with me too, and actually go on the rollercoaster.

I prepped some blogs until the end of March. See you back in April with some new content!

Author note:

A week passed since I wrote this blog post. I booked all those things, and my mom was excited. She said she wanted a massage and a spa day as well. I said, “Well, go for it then!.”

when I reread this blog post, anxiety kicked in. I wondered if what I’ve been doing will actually lead me to where I want to be.

Then a simple voice in my head said: “Fuck it. Let’s go.”

Still my fav picture of me till this day.