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“I was born alone and I will die alone, so go on your own journey.”
This statement by British lightweight Ishmael Davis may seem honest on the surface, but his harsh outlook on life developed during some difficult formative years.
By the age of 14, Davis had been expelled from school, kicked out of his childhood home and was coping with the responsibility of caring for newborn twin sons.
“I had a bit of a rough upbringing,” Davis told BBC Sport.
“I lived with the mother of my first child when I was 14, went to a hostel until I was 15 and then got my own flat.
“Because I wasn’t earning money, it was difficult. I was only getting about £100 every two weeks. It was a tough time in my life but these are the things I had to get through.”
Davis, 30, first entered a boxing gym when he was 12 and took part in an unsanctioned amateur bout the following year, but any dreams of pursuing the sport were dashed as he tried to provide for his children.
Despite being a child, Davis turned to the streets of Chapeltown in Leeds to make ends meet.
“I was nine years old when I had my first child,” Davis says. “And then I wanted to be out on the streets all the time and joined gangs.”
“Because I had young children, I started selling drugs.”
Davis would land in prison soon after and was on the road that some of his closest friends and family were on.
On November 15, he will face Sam Gilley for the British and Commonwealth light-middleweight titles on the undercard of Chris Eubank Jr vs. Conor Benn at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as he looks to get his career back on track after three losses in his past four fights.
Davis discusses how different his life would have been if not for boxing and his personal motivations.
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