Kid Galahad applies lessons learned from doping ban to set up first world title defence

Kid Galahad is looking forward to making a first world title defence in front of his home city fans in Sheffield, England, on Saturday, but times were not always this good for the IBF featherweight champion.

Galahad, who faces former champion Kiko Martinez, put his career on hold while he served an 18-month suspension for a doping violation from 2014 to 2016, and then had to regain momentum. He received a two-year ban, which was later reduced by six months, after he tested for the banned steroid stanozolol following his fight against Adeilson Dos Santos in September 2014.

Galahad (28-1, 17 KOs), 31, claimed his own brother spiked his drink with a banned substance following an argument. He returned to the ring in 2016 and registered eight wins to earn a world title shot. After losing to local rival Josh Warrington for the IBF world featherweight title by split decision in June 2019, Galahad won the same title when he stopped James “Jazza” Dickens at the end of 11 bloody rounds in August.

Galahad — real name Abdul-Bari Awad — went into the Dickens fight after 18 months sidelined due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the lack of action was something he had faced before.

“When Covid hit I had already been through a lockdown of sorts, I was used to it because of the ban,” Galahad told ESPN. “I was stuck on an island when I was suspended. I had to keep working to make boxing work for me when I came back. You’re best being over prepared rather than underprepared and I’m always striving for better.

“They were hard times, but I’m mentally a tougher person because of it. I continued training every single day. I didn’t get a job and I was out for 18 months,” he continued. “It was like revision for a test that you don’t know when is going to happen. I had no choice….