Arab American boxing pride to be on display August 31st in Detroit
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 14 Aug 2025
Dearborn prospect Husam Al Mashhadi to fight on Sadam Ali’s “The Return”
BROOKLYN (August 13, 2025) – Husam “Lionheart” Al Mashhadi (12-1, 10 KOs), of Dearborn Heights, Michigan, is scheduled to fight on Sunday afternoon, August 31, as part of “The Return” professional boxing event presented by World Kid Promotions in Detroit.
All the action will be streamed www.bxngtv.com live from Wayne State Fieldhouse.
The 22-year-old Al Mashhadi will be dropping down one weight class from junior middleweight to welterweight for the first time in the 8-round co-feature vs. TBA. Currently on a six-fight winning streak, the southpaw is scheduled to compete at home on “The Return.” Like many other boxers, he began training in boxing after he often got into fights at school.
“My older brothers and friends were fighting all the time,” Al Mashhadi explained. “I was fighting a lot in school, and my father took me to a gym to try and get me beat up by older kids. I never got hit sparring by any of them.”
As it turned out, “Lionheart” was a natural boxer who first started competing as an amateur at the age of 7, even though the required age to do so was 8. He won his first tournament and ended up a 6-time national amateur champion.
Former World Champion and 2008 U.S. Olympian, Sadam “World Kid” Ali (27-3, 14 KOs), makes his long-awaited return to the ring after a 6-year hiatus in the 10-round main event versus TBA.
Al Mashhadi, of course, is grateful to be sharing the spotlight with Ali, who captured the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Junior Middleweight World title, upsetting future Hall-of-Famer Miquel Cotto (41-5) at the famed Madison Square Garden.
“Sadam is someone I watched a lot growing up,” Mashhadi said. “I watched him fight Cotto to become world champion. As a fellow Arab American, I’d like to do the same. He’s a good person and we’re friends. I went to his gym in Brooklyn to workout. I went through some tough conditioning. It’s going to be great fighting on the same card of his big comeback. It’s cool to be fighting on the same card as two former world champions and maybe I’ll be the next. Dearborn has a biff Arab/Muslim background. It was good to watch a Yemen boxer (Ali) win the world title; I’d like to become world champion with an Iraq background.”
Al Mashhadi is looking forward to fighting in a different weight class, although it’s more of an experiment than full commitment at this stage.
“We’ll be fighting at a 150-pound catchweight, and then I’ll see how I feel,” Al Mashhadi remarked. “So far, so good, and only 5-6 pounds away from 150. We’re playing it safe at 150 and, if everything is good, then I’ll next fight at 147. I’m happy to experience what I have earlier in my career than later. I still need to learn a lot before I’m ready to fight top 10 opponents. I definitely want to be world champion before I’m 26. “I want to defend and collect a lot of belts to have a successful career.”
The other former world champion to be in action Aug. 31st is Richard “RC” Commey (30-5-1, 27 KOs). The native of Ghana, who lives in The Bronx, has been inactive since March of 2023. He captured the International Boxing Federation (IBF) Lightweight World Champion in 2019, when he stopped Isa Chaniev (13-1) in the second round.
Also fighting on the undercard is Brooklyn bantamweight Khalid Twaiti (14-1, 5 KOs) in a 10-round match vs. TBA. The 2015 USA Nationals silver medalist is bouncing back first pro loss this past June 6 to 10-0 Emanuel Moreno by way of an 8-round unanimous decision.
Other matches will soon be announced when approved and completed.
Card subject to change.
Tickets are on sale, priced between $200.85 and $41.20, and available for purchase online at https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/64465842/the-return-boxing-event-detroit-wayne-state-fieldhouse, as well as at Wayne State Fieldhouse (313.577.4069, Hours of Operation: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. EST-2 p.m. EST).
Doors open at 3 p.m. ET with the first bout at 4 p.m. ET.
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