How a shy Dubai schoolboy became the youngest Arab WBC champion

Asaad Touqan recalls his school years as a time when he could barely lift his head to speak to classmates. “I was scared to talk to girls and to people in general,” he said. “I had social anxiety and was never able to connect with other kids. I was a bit of a weird kid.”

From Shyness to the Ring

That self-described “weird kid” later found a passion for combat sports. He first excelled in kickboxing and Muay Thai, winning multiple national and international medals, before turning his focus to boxing. Driven by a desire to be a trailblazer, the Dubai-based fighter trained daily after convincing his mother to sign him up at a club.

“I started boxing at eight. After two years, I began joining the adults’ classes at 10. Even though I was small, I was giving everyone a hard time,” Touqan said. “I would cry while boxing because I had so much passion for it. I was training with adults, so they would hit me, and I didn’t want to feel less than them. I would go to war with them. That’s when people started noticing: ‘This kid has heart; he can fight.’”

A Historic Title in Dubai

The hard work paid off. At 19, Touqan won the WBC Asia Youth super-middleweight title in Dubai, becoming the youngest Arab WBC champion and the first Jordanian-Palestinian fighter to claim a WBC Asia belt. He is also the youngest ICB (Influencer Championship Boxing) champion.

“I was supposed to fight for it in Saudi Arabia, but I said no — I wanted to do it in Dubai because this country has given me so much and I’ll always proudly represent it,” he said.

Touqan credits his Dubai-based coaches and sparring partners for his improvement, but says his determination to overcome challenges from a young age was the driving force.

Family and Support

Touqan said his family background fuelled his boxing passion. “My uncles were all in Special Forces, Interpol, and the military in Jordan. I come from a tough background where it’s cool to be tough,” he said. As a child, he was put into karate for self-defence, which sparked an interest that grew as he entered competitions.

Turning professional was not easy. “When I turned professional, both my parents were against it initially. That’s when passion turns into a pursuit, and it gets dangerous — there are deaths in boxing, brain damage, all of that,” he said. He convinced his father by framing it as a branding and networking opportunity, promising a smarter route rather than a raw, brutal one.

“My mother, on the other hand, now takes pride in it, but she never watches. She comes to my fights, looks at the floor, and just makes dua and prays for me. She’s a strong woman. She has four brothers, all of whom were in the military, so she’s used to this. They used to go to war — fighting in a ring isn’t as significant in comparison. But she still gets very nervous. She always asks about my sleep, my training, everything. When she’s at the fights, she’s just praying. She doesn’t want to see me get hurt,” he added.

Ambitions Beyond Boxing

Inspired by Muhammad Ali’s philosophy of honesty and truthfulness, Touqan hopes to leave his own mark on the sport. “In terms of boxing itself, I want to achieve more. I want to be a recognised name — a name to remember. I want to leave my footprint in the sport and make a real difference,” he said.

“But the end goal is bigger than just being a boxer. I want to make a name for myself so that in any industry I choose — real estate, production, acting, whatever it may be — I have enough of a name to do whatever I want and be successful at it.”

“Being a boxer gives you so much respect. When you’re in the ring and people are watching you knock someone out, it earns you respect instantly. They look at you eye to eye. They don’t look down on you. That’s the main reason I’m pursuing this. I don’t come from a rich family. I don’t have something of value ready-made to offer people. This is a way to make myself worth speaking to, worth respecting. It’s the same purpose I had in school — just at a higher level now,” he said.

It is a remarkable turnaround for a boy who was once too shy and afraid to talk to his classmates.