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FEATURE: Bastie Samir, a bright career gone waste?
At age 35, boxers should be nearing their retirement but to Bastie Samir, it marks the dawn of career revival.
The light-heavyweight fighter has failed to live up to expectation despite being a prospect in his amateur days.
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To Samir, poor managerial decisions caused him when he began his professional career in the United States (US) in 2008.
“I had so many bad decisions go against me when I turned professional due to a managerial dispute.
“However, I believe I still have what it takes to fight at the highest level and I am ready to achieve that,” Samir told Graphic Sports.
Samir was introduced to boxing by his father who used to be a professional fighter. He initially disagreed to take up a career in boxing but after a while he fell in love with the fistic sport.
Samir competed and won silver in 2007 when he competed at the African Games in Algeria when he was 18 years old.
The following year, he qualified for the Olympic Games in Beijing, China but failed to qualify from the preliminary stage.
Move to the US
Samir relocated to the US after the Olympics to start his professional career.
He trained at the famous Mayweather Boxing Club in Las Vegas and marked his debut against Marvin Blair in November 2008.
“I decided to relocate to the US for my professional career after the Olympics but things didn’t go as planned,” said Samir.
“I struggled to break through in the US and that really affected my progress but I learnt a lot from that,” he said.
Samir, alias the Beast, managed 11 fights in three years in America and returned home to continue his career from Ghana.
Return to Ghana
In 2013, he fought George Amuzu in his first fight in Ghana and went on to make three more that same year.
The Ghanaian went three years without fighting and on his return; he earned a unanimous decision win over Sijuola Ade Shabazz in the US.
Samir didn’t stop there. In 2017, he fought then undefeated Brimah Kamoko, alias Bukom Banku, in a bout which made him famous in Ghana.
After throwing shots at each other in the build-up, Samir triumphed in seven rounds after stopping Bukom Banku in what shocked the entire nation.
“It is the biggest fight of my professional career till date even though I knew I was going to win before the fight,” Samir told Graphic Sports.
“ I became a household name after the fight and many expected me to ride on that to revive my career but things didn’t turn up the way I expected,” he said.
Since that famous victory over Bukom Banku, Samir has managed only three fights having struggled to get opponents.
Stalled career
The development has stalled Samir’s career and with age not on his side, the hard-hitting puncher must work hard to revive his career or live to regret it.
To him, the only way to put his career back on track is to return to the US where his professional took off.
“I am working on renewing my visa so I can move back to the US and build my career from there.
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“I believe that is the best way to come back stronger and to get the chance to challenge for titles.
“I know it is going to be difficult but I am ready to make it happen. I know age is not on my side but with my division, it is not going to really affect me,” he said.
Samir’s career was expected to be brighter than it is today and should it end without any meaningful achievement, it could be described as one of the most wasted boxing talents in the history of Ghana.