Rob T here for boxing news delighted to be joined by former ibf Federate champion of the world Billy dib we are here in the wonderful city of Tash Kent in usbekistan Billy lovely to see you how are you really good man really good to see you too wow first and foremost
Before we get started it’s great to see you looking in such Brilliant Health I mean to be fair we we’ve seen that smile through the ups and the Downs over the last year or so but you’re looking in wonderful Spirits so it’s really good to see you thank you very much man I
Actually I feel very blessed in favored by God to be here well I’m favored by God to have you here and it’s great to sit down and have this conversation I always kind of like to do these things at conventions just sort of sit down and
And have a bit more of a general chat really and obviously somebody such as yourself irrespective of all of the things that you’ve gone through over the last 12 months or so have you know a pretty interesting story so I thought it would be a good idea to sit down and run
Through a few things so um yeah I think let’s start with with kind of the most most obvious place to start which is your your very brave and successful battle against cancer over the last 12 months or so um just tell me if you can where you are now how things are now
With you and and just how you’re feeling yeah so right now I’m in I’m in remission so um you know it’s that’s a total blessing you know so it means no more chemotherapy no more drugs cuz that’s the thing that actually kills you all the drugs that they give you drove
Me up the wall you know like the amount of the amount of drugs in the chemo and swallow this and take this and drink that it was driv me crazy and and the thing is uh like I remember the exact words from the doctor were we’re basically going to kill everything in
Your body and then it’s it’s up to you to survive you know it’s like and that’s the truth you know it is up to you because you can so easily give in and I know a lot of people do give in and during the time that I was in hospital
Actually three people passed away so you know when when people pass away you you often think like how am I going to get through this if they you know and but I was just so determined and all I could think about at the time was my son and
So you know today I am cancer free I’ve been cancer free since March the 6th I’ve done a couple of scans already um obviously I’ve P passed the scans but they do say that um you know obviously it’s something that could come back but just live your life and that’s what I’ve
Chose chosen to do is just to live my life and if it does come back then I’ll deal with it then but I’m not going to let it consume me thinking about everything I do everything I drink everything I eat could that trigger something to come back cuz that’s what
Really goes on in your mind you start thinking like oh I can’t eat chocolate I don’t want anything with sugar in it and because you start thinking that is that going to activate any cells that are going to bring the cancer back but like
I said you know I made a decision to uh to leave it and if it does come back I’ll just deal with it you know but I’m not going to let it consume my life because it’s there’s so much life to live and so much to give you know so
Sitting back and worrying about all that’s not going to be healthy just go back if you can uh for people who maybe aren’t as familiar as obviously yourself are and we are with your with your journey through cancer to the the start What were what was the origins in a
Sense of noticing issues that you were having with your body what prompted you to go to the doctor and and how did it progress from there you you wouldn’t believe this but I was extremely tired all the time leading into this but all I thought was I’m just training hard maybe
Maybe I’m running too hard maybe I’m overtraining which I know I wasn’t because I’m I was a you know I’ve been professional for many years I know when to push and not to push but I was always tired and I was always like sleeping early and it’s funny because in
2015 my wife Sarah was diagnosed and died from cancer but in the leadup she was extremely tired and I I was always like why are you so tired why are you so tired what have you been doing like you staying up really late and she she
Wasn’t doing any of that but it was just that the cancer was attacking her body and she was getting tired and so for me one day I was in the gym and this is exactly how I found it I was in the gym and I was sparing another fighter who’s
A very very good friend of mine by the name of B dib so he and I shared the same name we actually Billy and Billy and dib and Di and he actually hit me with a body shot and uh it wasn’t a body shot that wins you or a body shot that
Like cripples he was but he hit me in the colon area and I felt like a sharp stabbing pain I continued to spa and then when I finished up I was like there’s something wrong with my stomach I couldn’t even do sit-ups I felt like
Really not well and so I left the gym and I went home and I told my wife I said I think I might have tore something in my stomach and then she was like maybe you should go to the hospital I didn’t end up going to the
Hospital and then the next morning I was really really sick and so I went to the hospital and there was so much neglect from the doctors it was like they gave me morphine to try to mask the pain which really did work at the time it did
Mask the pain very well but then once the morphine wore off the pain came back tfold and um yeah I was I was in a mess and so you know obviously um the following day I made another trip to the hospital after speaking to a
Hematologist by the name of Dr PR and I told him I said I feel like I got something growing in my stomach and what was happening is um it was blocking um there was a blockage so I couldn’t actually go to the L I couldn’t go to
The restroom and that was causing like a like a backlog like it’s either got to come out one way or the other right so like and I was feeling extremely sick I wasn’t eating I wasn’t drinking and when I finally went to the hospital was like I I I passed out from
The pain and I woke up in the ward and um the doctor come to see me and basically asked what was going on and I said to him look I don’t know why but I got the feeling like I’ve got cancer and he’s like no you don’t you don’t look
Like a cancer patient you know you don’t look like you’ve got the symptoms of a cancer patient I was like I’m just telling you you know it’s what I feel and then that night they gave me some stuff to like flush out my body then the
Following morning they took me in for a endoscopy woke woke me up a few hours later and basically said look we’ve found cancer in your colon area and I was like I I knew it you know I could feel like obviously I was very drugged
Up when he told me that and then uh the journey with this cancer started but they basically did an operation and they pulled out the the colon uh they they took 9 cm from the colon and there was a 9 cm tumor in there so they actually
Sorry it was a 5 cm tumor but they cut 9 cm out to make sure that they’ve cleaned everything around it and then um the uh following days I just was in hospital for about a week then uh the doctor come in and see me goes look when you start
Wearing your own clothes it seems like it’s time for you to go home so he sent me home and he said look we might need you to come back to do a bit of chemotherapy and I was like absolutely not not doing any of the chemo
I said if you said you’ve taken the cancer and it’s not there I’m not doing any chemotherapy well exactly one week to that day I was back in hospital on my knees they they had um they hadn’t misdiagnosed me but he they let me go um without reviewing the other Bloods
And basically said they told my wife that oh look we’ve we’ve missed you know we’ve misread something and he’s actually got non hodkinson’s book of lymphoma cancer which is a very rapid attacking cancer and you need to bring him back to hospital now and I just went
Back to hospital and that’s when the next 5 months of pain started describe to me if you can that feeling of of getting that diagnosis particularly as as we’ll come on to discuss kind of having the the tragedy in your family already with with your wife and and losing her to cancer how
Did that feel what was it like getting that diagnosis the first time um you know uh when when they first said that I had colon cancer I was like and they said that they had taken it out it was like I I I wasn’t stressing at all all I
Was thinking was about I need to get back in the gym to get ready for this next fight because I was going to be fighting George kosas that’s what we were working towards and so then um obviously I was just thinking about that but then as I was getting sicker I
Started thinking well this is actually getting more serious and then when I actually ended up back in hospital um my mother and I were in the hospital Ward and um my mom was saying there’s nothing wrong with you like I got a feeling that nothing wrong with you you’re going to
Be fine shortly after this conversation with my mom a Doctor by the name of Dr B AB batarian walks in the room and um he was very formal and asked if he could sit with me and just like you and I sitting right now he sat directly in
Front of me he asked if he could speak in front of that woman I said that’s my mother say anything you can say to me you can say to her and he basically just dropped the bomb like really blatant you know he just said do know what kind of
Cancer you have and I was like I didn’t even know I had cancer I was like you telling me that’s I’ve got cancer and he’s like yeah but he goes um I understand you have reservations about the chemotherapy and I was like yeah I’m not doing chemotherapy and he was like I
Got to tell you something that might shock you a little bit he goes but if you do not take the chemotherapy you won’t be around in 6 months time he goes you’ll be around five 5 to 6 months tops he goes cuz this this cancer is attacking you as we
Speak and I was I was Gob smacked I looked back at my mom and she burst into tears and then I basically just said to him I I first gave gratitude to God I just said thank you God because everything that comes from God is good
And bad you know you got to be grateful for that and so I just you know I said to him I said listen you’re not God and you can’t tell me that I’m going to die he said no I never said I was God but
What I am telling you is that I’m a hematologist and I know exactly what what I’m looking at and I’m telling you now from the look of your Bloods you won’t be around for much longer so that’s when I knew he was like dead set serious you know like this was
Not going to be a joke and then I asked him a very important question I said how do I turn 6 months into 60 years and he asked me why like just directly why’d he asked and I said I got a three-year-old son that I needed to walk to school in
Two years time and he goes well you’ve just found your reason to fight and then I was like well I’m on board and he’s like what about all the reservations about the chemotherapy and then I said said to him look you need to understand where that comes from I said my wife
Died from cancer in 2015 he’s like really and I’m like yeah and he goes I go she died from the chemotherapy it wasn’t the cancer that killed her because she died in remission but the chemo killed her and he’s like I’m sorry to hear that he goes but you got to take
Take the chance and I was like look I’m going to I’m going to do it I’m going to I’m going to bite the bullet I got to do it for my son I don’t want to I don’t want to die and my son say I never tried
You know I want to my son to know that so so all everything that I did from that point on was for my son and my wife and for my family and from you know to be able to show my son that hey look my
Dad fought he’s heart out for me cuz I didn’t want my son to say oh he’s he gave up right away you know so he didn’t try and uh the exact words that the doctor said to me was this will be an uphill battle he goes but you you’re
Young and you’re strong and you’ll get through it and I said to him that’s such a protocol thing for you to say and he asked me why I say that and I said that’s exactly what you told my wife Sarah before she passed away and he goes
Well am I lying though and I said no you’re not lying I said but it is the protocol thing for you to say I go but just so you know I am not going to die I go you cancer chose the wrong opponent and he’s like well I like that attitude
And basically the next day they transported me to a new hospital and the battle with this cancer started you mentioned that your son several times uh we sat yesterday at the opening ceremony and we saw you know and we have seen over the course of the last year or so
So really heartwarming heartbreaking however you want to look at it photos of of yourself with your family with your with your son following you around and there’s those lovely photos of him kissing you after you’re going through your chemotherapy how do you manage that I’m a parent to a young child I’ve been
In hospital in the past obviously nothing anywhere near as serious as what you’ve gone through but knowing as a parent that you have a child somebody who doesn’t really and can’t really comprehend what you’re going through how do you manage that how do how do you do
That as a parent the the the the thing that broke my heart the most about La was that for a for a three-year-old boy he’s so switched on and he knew exactly what was going on and he asked me a question which which like was I was like
Why is does this kid know so much about this who’s speaking to him about this and he said to me Dad are you going to die three-year-old boy asked me are you going to die Dad are you going to die and I was like I was was in shock I was
Like Dad I’m not going to die okay and I I will tell you something dad if I do die I’ve tried my best and I’m not going I’m not going to you know like so I I actually fought with the hospital I actually had like fights with the
Doctors about letting me go home because they wouldn’t let him into the ward because he’s too young to be around the chemotherapy and the radiation stuff and that so I would I actually in the end told him if you don’t let me go home for a few days forget it I’m leaving I’m
Discharging myself and I’m just going to I just want to go home and my son you know so they started giving me like day leave passes or like they’d let me leave the hospital for 2 or 3 days to spend time with him and my wife and um like I
Just feel like I just I became so close to him and and the way it’s like he knew that there was a chance that I might not be around so he was like lapping it up he was like really soaking it up and just trying to you know he wouldn’t he
Every night he’d like I need to sleep with my dad I need to sleep with my dad and you know my wife would take photos of us sleeping next to each other all the time and it was like the connection was so real you know it was like but I
Was shocked to know how does this kid know about this it’s like it’s too much for a three-year-old kid to know you mentioned there about your wife how did she deal with it how did she process things and obviously it’s you know you’re the man of the family you’re the
Husband you’re the father you’re not around for it when you are around I’m assuming that you you’re Gravely ill and you’re unwell they always say behind every great man is a great woman and I’m sure that applies in this scenario yeah um you know what the sad thing is for my
Wife was that you know as I was going into the hospital with cancer my dad was coming out in remission so my dad had been suffering from prostate cancer for 20 plus years and then it had sort of moved to his bow area and they got it
Under control and then he was coming out in remission and I was gone into hospital but at the same time my wife’s father my father-in-law has been diagnosed with basically a terminal cancer where it’s it’s basically it’s eating his um his liver and stuff and there’s there’s nothing that they can do
About it so you know he’s on he’s basically on borrowed time and so you know could you imagine her having to deal with me her father and you know the fact that my dad was just coming out with that it was it was a lot to take in you know so and
Um I uh you know I I was just that’s why I feel so indebted to her as a woman you know what I mean like I I feel really indebted to her in regards to being able to treat her the best that I can and
Everything that I do in my life now is not about me anymore you know I don’t I’m not trying to attain things for me everything that I’m trying to attain in my life is for my wife and for my son you could ask people around me I never
Think about me I’m always thinking about them because the reality is is that there was a point where I thought that I wasn’t going to be around but I was grateful that God gave me an opportunity to put a few things in place because sometimes people die in a tragic
Accident and they never got the chance to tell their loved ones that they love them they never got to put their will in place they never got to rectify any issues well I could tell you right now I sit here in front of you and I’ve rectified every single issue that I’ve
Ever had with every anybody I have no enemies I have no no one I have no quaries with anybody and the other thing is I’ve managed to put all of my life Affairs in place so if I was to check out tomorrow my wife knows exactly where everything is and uh what’s what’s
What’s her what’s F it’s all being written down that’s one of the things I wanted to kind of to discuss with you is how it changes your entire outlook on things I mean as Fighters as people really you kind of go from one thing to the next you never really stop to take
Stock of things you never really stop to to have a look at your life really and then before you know it you’re an old man or you’re ill or or what have you after all of that and everything that you went through how are you different
Now compared to the Billy di that first went into Hospital well the truth is is that I’ve always has been a very determined individual from a young age like I from the young age of 12 I knew that I was going to be a world champion
I will tell anyone and everyone that I was going to be Champion I I I talked it into fruition and so I was one of those kids who chased my dreams I I I never stopped and I knocked down the boundaries and the barriers and all that sort of
Stuff but to to um you know to go to go through what I went through it taught me something that I you know is that the reality of time’s not promised that was the one thing that was like that hit me hard was like wow so God tells us every
Day that there’s a chance that you could die at any moment we’re not promised today we’re not promised the evening we’re not promised tonight we’re not promised the next morning none of us are but when the doctor sits directly in front of you and tells you that you got
Six months to live that’s like a a major wakeup call you know I mean it’s like what have I been doing in my life and that’s what I did at that point I just stopped stopped and thought what have I been doing in my life where have I been
Gone what have I been doing what what am I chasing like I’m still hanging around the boxing scene trying to achieve something that’s maybe far gone you know like I was hanging around for another opportunity maybe I could get another world title shot whatever but when when
Is enough enough you know I mean when are you going to start focusing on what’s important and what was important which I think I was neglecting was my wife and my son here here here’s this little boy who looks up to me and adores me and and I’m neglecting him to go to
The gymm or neglecting to go do other things that are really not benefiting him in any way because really the truth is is that at the end of my boxing career I was still chasing something that wasn’t giving me no Financial reward just on um the chemotherapy obviously i’ I’ve never been through
Chemotherapy um obviously I’m sure there’s people who are watching this who have or they have family members who have what’s that like what how does it feel how does it affect you what is the process of it I’ll I’ll be honest with you it’s like I I keep telling people that um
Chemotherapy was in a an invisible opponent that I couldn’t see but you know when you you you look at a video game and you see like you you’re up against a fighter in a video game who’s got 100% power 100% speed 100% agility well well this chemotherapy thing has
100% of everything it doesn’t lack anything it’s the best at what it does and what it does is it kills everything inside your body and it did that to me and when the doctor says that it’s up to you to fight it and do everything in
Your power to stay alive we give you the medication to keep you alive but it’s up to you he really comes down to the mental side of how you’re feeling and like mentally if you check out you will leave if you say I can’t do it that’s so
It’s over for you there was never a day where I said I can’t do this anymore like I was like it’s hard but I got to do it for my son and and I and the one thing that was on my wall the whole way through from start to finish was a quote
From the Rocky movie which was in Rocky 5 where Mickey says to Rocky get up you son of a because Mickey loves you I actually wrote I didn’t write it my oldest brother wrote on the wall get up you son of a because Leif loves
You so every time I felt like I was in a moment of Despair or getting weak I would just look up at that and I would think to myself what’s the future look like for him if I’m not around what do I do for that point and and and the the truth is
Is that a lot of people did ask me why are you so open about your cancer Journey on social media why are you posting up why are you doing videos why are you allowing strangers into your personal life and I was like has nothing to do with the strangers has nothing to
Do with the fans has nothing to do with the loved ones this is about one person one person only my son cuz the truth is is that as much as I wanted to survive and wanted to be around I I was constantly thinking that there’s a
Chance that I might I may check out and if I do I want my son to see that I did my best to get through each and every single obstacle that came my way so my son could one day tell his friends if they ask him Hey where’s your dad he
Says oh my dad passed away but my dad tried his best to beat cancer he tried his best to be here for me and I I actually took time out during my time in hospital when I was in like my own privacy when I was no one around and if
I was going through difficult times I would always turn the phone on during the most difficult times where I was struggling to speak and I would record videos for him just just so he could see what I went through to fight this for him cuz that’s the truth if if he wasn’t
Around I would have just said no I’m not doing the chemotherapy because how are you going to convince me that I’m going to do any better than my wife s and I was trying to say to them was that she could have had longer had you not given
Her the chemotherapy like you obviously her death came faster it was which is not true because everyone dies in their time but in that time that’s what I was thinking I was like man had they not given her the chemotherapy she may have survived longer I might have had more
Time with her and so I was thinking like if he wasn’t around I wouldn’t have done it I would have just been like no I’m not doing it I’m just going to live the rest of my life as much as whether you’re saying it’s 6 months I’m going to
See I’m going to gamble on that but because of him I bit the bullet and said okay I’m going to do it and one of the other things that you were you were very about um throughout the time of your illness um and certainly since as well
Was your faith your religion you are a Muslim you’re a proud Muslim about Muslim um how did your faith and your belief in God help you through this process yeah I I think Faith was the most important factor that played a role and and and I and I will say this openly and
Um I I I’ve told i’ say this to everybody it was it was a it was a message that I received from a friend of mine and it’s somebody who’s like a mentor and somebody I love dearly his name is Sid and he actually sent me a
Message and the message read you need to surrender and when he first sent me that message when I read that first line I closed the phone cuz I was like right off the bat it’s saying you need to surrender and I was like this is not
What I need to hear right now because he’s asking me to give up but I was on drugs at that time when I was reading the message I was on a cocktail of drugs when I finally sew it up the following day I actually looked at the phone and
Read that message and it actually said you needed to surrender to a higher power you’re not in control here and that’s the truth I wasn’t in control you know like we we are when you when you’re when are we ever in control maybe when we’re behind the wheel of a car you feel
Like you’re in control but can you control what’s happening from the person who’s driving next to you can you control the person who’s Crossing that light can you control the person who’s playing with their phone you can’t it’s it’s in God’s hand to protect you and so
For for me I was like I need I made a decision to surrender to God and when I made that decision I I was all of a sudden at peace for the first time in the hospital I was actually at peace that I made peace with God that I could
Check out so I would actually speak to God direct like I felt like that even though we haven’t we we’re told that we can speak to God direct all the time there’s no one between me and you and I can talk directly to God if I’m in my
Room or wherever I am I can talk but for the first time I actually felt that connection like I was speaking directly to God and I remember one one night where I was really messed up on medication and stuff my eldest brother Jihad was with me and I actually said to
Him Jad I’ve just had to talk to to God me and him have just had a conversation and he’s looking at me like yeah okay and I’m like he actually said that you should take me home cuz I’m cancer free and he’s like we’re still a little bit
Away from that champ and I said no no God has told me that I’m okay and I’m cancer free and like literally two months later I was actually cancer free you know so like I actually felt this this unbelievable connection and that was only through surrendering to the higher
Power and another thing that you uh was kind of a prominent fixture throughout all of this was the massive support that you had from the boxing industry I mean boxing is I like to refer to like a dysfunctional family like in in its own way everyone has the crazy uncle and the
People that they don’t speak to when they get together and they still have the argument and all of that stuff but the universal love and the universal outpouring of support for you throughout all of this was something unlike anything that I’ve seen in boxing certainly recently where everybody
Galvanized and came together for for one of our own you know and and supported you what did that mean to you and and and what did that give you oh wow that’s that’s like that was like incredible I’ll be honest with you to to and when I was extremely sick in hospital I
Actually for the first time in my life put my phone on silent and actually turned off the buzz buzzing sound I couldn’t stand to hear the sound of the phone buzzing so and I would leave the phone for hours on end and then I would finally when I felt like I
Was had enough energy to pick up this phone I would have a look at it and I would see the messages from people from all over the world and to be honest um Mauricio suan was one of the first people to reach out as soon as he found
Out and he was like you know what’s going on and what’s happening and so when I spoke to him on the phone and he said to me he said I’ll see you at the next convention and I was like Maurice I don’t know if I’m going to
Make it you know he’s like no you’re you got a Champion’s heart you you know what it takes to to beat you know you’re a warrior and he’s just a lot of words of encouragement from him and then from Daryl pup who’s with the ibf Ben Kelty and then just the whole boxing
Fraternity I’m talking like Badu Jack every single day would message me and check in on me not one day pass where Badu Jack were not not checking on me every single day and you know people like zap Judah costao contacted me um you know you had people like Anthony
Mandine Danny Green um fighters from all over the world like if I go through my phone I and show just show you the amount of messages that I received from some of the greatest Fighters Jeff fenic like the list goes on I’d be here for hours telling you about who messaged
Right but um it was like everyone was like you know barracking for me you’re gonna do it champ you’re gonna beat this thing you know and I had like Tam Khan from America from Dubai and wow it was just like it was I built such a connection with all these people during
That time and like one of the first people that I actually rang when I was cancer free was Badu ja he was one of the first people him and Prince Hamed were the first on my call list as soon as I was told that I was cancer free cuz
I felt like I owed it to Badu because Badu checked in on me every day and he was like man please you got to let me know when you do this scan don’t forget me please cuz I’m on edge you know and I’m like I will let you know I’ll
Promise yeah and he was one of the first people that I contacted him and Prince Nim and I was like cancer free man like they couldn’t believe it you know it’s like it was a major like buzz for them like for me it was like I was crowned
Champion of the world and for them it was like they were Crown champion of the world that’s how important it was to them you go back a long way with NZ don’t you you go back you go back many years with Nasim hammed yeah Nas was
Basically uh you know from the from the age of 14 when I discovered Nas he just quickly became my childhood hero you know and um I eventually met him when I was 17 and developed an amazing friendship and in a bond with him and so you know um it’s funny because um any
Time that I was in any sort of Despair in my life he was the one person that could always get me out of that despair he always had a way of speaking speak to me he had always had a way of getting through and um when I rang him to tell
Him that I had um cancer he was in complete shock and he was like I’m coming to stay with you I’m coming to be right by your side and I was like I don’t need you to do that Nas you know I just I just was telling you you know
What I mean because I just want you to know that I love you and you’re in my heart and if anything does happen I want you to know that you know you you played a massive role in who I am today and obviously that made him very emotional
But also was like that brought out the whole confidence side of him no Habibi you’re gonna beat it it’s gonna you don’t worry about it no negativity and all and so all the messages from him during the time was like all positivity and just about how I’m going to kick
Cancer’s ass yeah obviously from from our neck of the woods over over in the UK Larger than Life character NZ but also a man of of deep faith and a man who who really does take his his religion very very seriously and obviously somebody who has shared that
With you and and instilled that kind of of that feeling in you as well for sure yeah he’s he’s as I said you know we we shared an amazing amazing um we share an amazing relationship amazing friendship Brotherhood and you know and now I get to you know see Sons blossom in boxing
And try their hand at it and and that’s that’s really cool you know what I mean to be able to see that and try to Mentor them the same way their father mentored me it’s awesome when you were declared in remiss what was that like I I can’t imagine the
Feeling of relief happiness shock s how did it feel at the time oh I could I I can actually walk you through that day you know I remember waking up extremely early in the morning my wife and I we prayed and um you know I was making a
Lot of Supplication and asking God to just spare me I was that’s all I wanted I was just just a little bit more time just to be able to be with my son and my wife and and more importantly my son you know like like I just was thinking about
This young boy growing up without a dad and so you know the whole morning in the lead up to get to the hospital was just all supplication and we woke up extremely early like 5:00 in the morning and then we got to the hospital at like
9:00 in the morning and I remember you know giving my wife and my son a hug and been like I’m going into to do scan now and I’ll never forget the um the gentleman who who did the scan he was he was amazing like he basically
Told me from the get-go when I did the first scan that he would be on this journey with me and that he would be the only one doing the scans for me and so when I eventually got there he like obviously greeted me with a hug and you
Know and we went in to do this scan and when I eventually woke up from the scan um I could see the look in his face was like I I didn’t know how to read him you know and I asked him I was like can
You tell me like when he’s like look I could lose my job you know like I don’t it’s not my job to tell you but like can I just take he goes I’ll just tell you that it looks okay you know what I mean and that was it and when he said it
Looks okay I was like oh that’s not if he was confident that I had was cancer free he wouldn’t say that you know I mean because I sort of felt that we had built that relationship and I respected that he you know I respected his job and
Respected where he stood with that it wasn’t his job to tell me that and so when I got in the car I rang the hematologist who was Dr ABI B chain and said to him Dr AB um I’ve just done a scan and whatever and he’s like Billy I
Can’t talk right now I’m about to go into theater so I’m going to need to call you maybe tonight or maybe tomorrow morning and I was like oh my god do you don’t I go you don’t anyway before I could say anything he’d hung up but I
Told my wife I’m like do they understand what I’ve been through like for the last several months and like now I didn’t sleep last night and now I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight because I’m thinking like I just want to know if if
It’s gone it’s gone if it’s not gone I just want to deal with it you know and so then during the day when when I was standing in the kitchen and my wife was upstairs attending to my son my phone rang and it was Dr abaran and I answered
The phone and I’m like hello and he’s like Billy how you doing I said good good he goes look I can’t talk for too long CU I’ve just stepped out of the theater but he goes I got your results congratulations you caner free and before I could have say you anything all
I said to him was like really and he’s like yeah you know I go can I tell people he’s like tell everybody it’s no problem anyway I got to go I’ll speak to you tomorrow and he hung up the phone and I was like I just I was Gob smacked
For that moment I was like did I hear that correctly so I ran upstairs and I said to my wife you wouldn’t believe it I just got a call from Dr bachin he just ranged me right now she’s like what is that he told me that I’m cancer free
Anyway she started crying my son started like yeah like he knew what was going on right and I was obviously you got shed a few tears and then I was like I’m going to ring my dad ring my dad my mom my brothers my sister and then you know and
Then we was like Wow and my brother Jihad was like be very strategic with how you post this cuz everybody’s waiting to see what you’re going to do so my wife’s like listen I’ve got the greatest idea let’s just do a sign and we’ll get left to hold the sign and
That’s the end of it and so we took a video of Life holding this sign that said hey guys my dad is cancer free and in remission and he was jumping up and down with this sign and you know what it was like got millions of views and and
Like I got my phone was like flooded with messages basically that I couldn’t open up I was like there’s no way I can respond I must have received like seven or 8,000 messages and I was like how am I going to respond to all of these so I
Just left it alone sleep a bit better that night 100% it was like relief it was complete relief because the truth is is that after going through what I had gone through I I wasn’t sure that I could do it again I wasn’t sure that I could do the the chemotherapy again and
I actually spoke to the doctor and actually voiced that and he was like we we’ll look for other um remedies don’t worry if it doesn’t work we’ll find something else which could be immunotherapy or could be um you know radiation and things like that but I was
Like I can’t do the chemotherapy anymore and I did I did do a few radiation therapy sessions and obviously they’re not very pleasant but they’re not as bad as the chemotherapy so but I wasn’t sure I could do it anymore but I think God knew that I had arrived at that point
Where I was like I had had enough of the chemotherapy and he was like you know what let me spare him how do you go from going through something like that to trying to go back to a normal life how do you go from being Billy di the world champion to
Billy dib the cancer patient to Billy dib the world champion again how how do you do that how how does the Mind work that well I didn’t I don’t really consider myself that world champion anymore obviously you know the great the greatest thing is is that um you know a
Lot of people used to tell me once a champion always a champion that title that title Champion can never be taken away from you but you know I I feel like being here and um you know being at the ibf convention earlier in the year and then
Being here that really has like shown me how much I’m appreciated in the world boxing and you never think that like I’m here at the WBC convention rubbing shoulders with who say Chavez costao Roberto Duran you know Adonis Stevenson like the list goes on like and
I’m like a V Holyfield and I’m having conversations with these people and like you know you got um uh all of these amazing Fighters here and like and I’m I’m a part of it I’m with these people so you know you never look at yourself like that I never looked at myself like
Hey I’m a legendary fighter or I’m a great fighter never I never gave myself that title I never I never acknowledged that I I’ve earned that title you know I just felt like you know I’m just a regular kid from the BBS of Australia who won a World title and you
Know defended it a few times and but I don’t know it’s just like God’s been good to me man I feel I feel so words can’t express how happy I’ve been to he be here and and I don’t really even want to do anything I just want to be around
The Champions you know what I mean like and to be acknowledged by like Roberto Durant and Chavez and be like hey Champion how Champion wow man if only these guys knew how much I looked up to them when I was a kid and still do you
Know what I mean like these guys are Timeless Heroes I mean you mentioned there about kind of looking up to Chavez looking up to Duran I mean you must be aware now that there’s going to be either young Fighters young cancer patients all types of people who are going to be now
Looking up to Billy dip I’m sure you would have had countless messages letters emails whatever from people who have have been through or going through a similar thing to you now and you’re not just a an inspiration from a boxing sense now it’s something bigger than that yeah it definitely is see like
Boxing was one thing and it’s funny because you know I always thought I had an amazing story even prior to having cancer I was like man I’ve been through so much in my life you know through the ups and downs missing out on Olympic Games you know
Losing my Championship trying to get a bag getting robbed this all of those little things that happened and I thought to myself I’ve got a really good story and a really good book to sell and then all of a sudden all of a sudden God says hold on
You’re not finished and i’ I’ve still got something more to give to you and he’s like I’m going to I’m going to gift you with cancer you’re going to have this cancer disease and you’re going to overcome it and that’s going to be another part of your story and I feel
Like the platform that it’s given me is unbelievable you know like and the reach that it’s given me is crazy because not not only now are you a champion fighter but you’re also a cancer survivor and when you say cancer survivor it’s like a lot of people don’t make it so when you
Feel like wow God really did favor me in that regard like he he gave me an opportunity to rectify my life he gave me an opportunity to restart like cuz I actually feel like from the moment that I was cancer free it’s like I’m reborn again I’ve been given a clean slate God
Cleansed me of all my sins and gave me a new slate and here’s this new slate that I’m now living and um obviously um I just feel really really like blessed like in a way that God has given me this platform with boxing God has given me this platform
With with cancer and and now my my sole goal in my life which is obviously I want to do things to help my family but my sole goal in life is to become one of the best keynote speakers in the world and to travel the world and tell my story
And Inspire others who are trying to you know or who have ambition of being great in sport have ambition being great in life in business whatever it is and those who are suffering from cancer letting them know that through faith family friendship and love anything is possible and just to hang on mentioned
There about a book I think you’re probably on the way to a screen play now we watch the space you’ve got your book there yeah so this is my my actual my book which is titled a true heart um the fights of my life and this is a book
About the journey through the ups and downs of boxing um my personal life I’ve left nothing unturned in this book I I I hid nothing I revealed everything um I’ve I’ve turned every stone in this book over and over I’ve made sure that I’ve not hidden everything of I wanted
People to know the story about Billy di from start to finish and um you know it’s it’s obviously this is a book about boxing yes but this is a book about life more importantly it’s a book about overcoming the odds you know people who told you you would be
Nothing and you then goone on to become something because that was something that was told to me when I was a kid you will you’ll amount to nothing but here I am today a former two-time boxing world champion a cancer survivor and now more importantly a uh a WBC you know ambassador
So it’s I’m I’m truly truly blessed truly blessed truly blessed indeed uh Billy I had lots of things that I wanted to talk to you about for your boxing career but I think it’s I think that can probably serve another time I’ll see at the next convention anyway um Before I
Let You Go you mentioned there about kind of being a cancer survivor and what that means to so many people around the world so what I want to do is I want to give the last word to you and I want you to give a message to look into that
Camera right there and give a message to anybody who’s watching this any any cancer sufferer anybody who is struggling with with the disease whether it’s themselves whether it’s somebody in their family somebody close to them and I want you to give them a message as Billy dib cancer survivor before I do
Say that I I do want to say that um this autobiography can be purchased at billy.com and I’ve also developed a brand called believe which is b i l y v and it shirt right yeah it’s a is Vision consistency success and this is a brand that I’ve developed and it’s a brand
About believing in yourself and knowing that through hardwork and consistency anything is possible and that everything in your life starts with a vision the consistent approach will only help you fight success success so if you are keen on obviously purchasing the brand you can also go to believe.com and then uh
My message to anybody who’s uh going through this journey of cancer or is facing any hardship in their life just just listen to what I’m saying because these were the things that really got me through you need to surrender yourself to a higher power whe whether you believe in God whether you
Don’t you need to find something that’s bigger than you to believe in because this is the one thing that will help you get through you need to look forward to something and for me it was my faith my family my friendship and the love of the boxing community in the world that got
Me through this so you need to rely on people do not be do not feel like you’re alone and and I am openly saying this and I’m and I’m sure that I’m going to receive a lot of messages if you are uh cancer sufferer and anyone who’s going
Through any sort of Despair in your life if you message me on Instagram or if you email me I will respond I will definitely respond and I will definitely get back to you I will not leave you hanging uh you no one needs to suffer in silence so whatever it is that you’re
Going through uh Billy dibb is here and I’m willing to speak to you there we have it Billy dib former two-time champion of the world and cancer survivor thanks very much for speaking to boxing news it’s been a real pleasure to hear your story and I look
Forward to seeing you very very soon thank you very much
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