Interview with Jordan’s 16-year-old top talent Bader Samreen

The 2nd edition of the Arab Youth Boxing Championships was held in Cairo, Egypt where five Asian teams competed and among them Jordan achieved finally two silver medals. Jordan’s 16-year-old Bader Samreen answered our questions about his experiences and future plans in our sport.
Jordan’s ASBC Asian Confederation Junior Boxing Championships competitor Bader Samreen advanced to the final of the welterweight (69kg) in the Arab Youth Championships following his amazing success against Morocco’s Tarik Zaatout and he had a narrow fight for the title against Egypt’s Youssef Mohamed Sobhy. The final verdict was 3:2 to the Egyptian boxer but the 16-year-old Samreen proved he is a top talent in Jordan.

– Congratulations to your silver medal in the strong Arab Youth Championships. What was your opinion about your opponents and the whole competition?
– My opponents were strong and to be honest I lose my final against my Egyptian opponent in Cairo. I was confident but I hope I will be doing it better next time.

– As far as I am aware you lived with your family in Germany as a child. Could you introduce your childhood before your boxing career?
– Yes, I was born in Jordan but my parents moved to Germany when I was only 6 months old. We have returned to Amman four and half years ago and now I am living in Jordan but I am still speaking German of course.

– When did you began your boxing career? Who was your biggest influence in your career? Which was the main reason you started our sport in Jordan?
– I began my boxing career in the end of 2012. My parents and my brother are my biggest influences while my personal idols in boxing are Floyd Mayweather and Saul Canelo Alvarez. I was involved into football as first and then I was planning to be stronger in the matches therefore I went to a boxing training with my brother. My coach and my dad also saw I have got talent in boxing and stayed in the sport.

– Who is your current coach and could you please tell us something about your training sessions?
– My current coach is Mr. Yasid Srour in Amman. I have been training with him but every day has got different schedule, it depends on the phase of the preparation.

– What is your biggest strength in the ring?
– My mind is the first one among my strengths, my eyes are also good enough to the sport and among my punches my left hook is the best. To be honest I do not know any of my opponents in my career because I really don’t care about who I fight with, I am just focusing myself.

– Which will be your next event this year?
– I will be competing in the Jordan Youth National Championships in the end of April and planning to box also in the ASBC Asian Confederation Youth Boxing Championships in Bangkok in July. I know I will be able to meet with strong boxers in Thailand and looking forward to fighting with them.

– What is your main goal in the sport as elite boxer?
– I would like to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games where my target is the gold medal in my weight class and makes Jordan proud in Japan. For longer term I would like to be undefeated as professional boxer.