EBU European Championship: Nice boxer Rakyb Mohamed Radji suffers first career defeat, but promises to "come back even stronger"

He will, no doubt, spend a long, long time dwelling on the cruel images of this fight, which he would surely never have lost, if he had been able to display as much vice and skill as his adversary. And he will also have to, once he returns home, inflict on himself a painful, but necessary, task of introspection.

Perform a screen reset of his certainties, for a salutary reassessment. Question, also, the flaws in his preparation, the limits of his strategy, and the way he approached this European Championship. Perhaps even doubt will creep in when he has to decide what to do next in his career. He who, since his time as a professional, had never yet tasted those moments of great solitude that, most often, accompany defeat.

On the other hand, the intelligence of the man, his ability to adapt as easily as a chameleon changes color, means that he will have no difficulty in freeing himself from the grip of his emotions, and thus be able to reject far away the dark perspectives which generally appear on the horizon of the vanquished.

Because yes, he will recover! If he left this meeting fixed by History with the feeling of not having put only the right ingredients into it, he did not leave the ring abandoning honor and principles behind him. Far from it!

Moreover, the Spanish public was not mistaken, sincerely welcoming the intensity and quality put into his boxing.

Rakyb Mohamed Radji was certainly forced to surrender to the Spaniard Jairo Noriega, but he still has not given up on the destiny he has dreamed of since childhood, and the contours of which he shaped by paying the price in blood and sweat.

And now?

In Vila-Real, the Rak suffered a nasty setback, certainly, but its fists also unleashed lightning. They still hold the truth...

In this tiled locker room of gloom and frustration, where he came to lay his carcass just after the verdict was announced, he was already sketching out what tomorrow should be like. Evoking his future. With a rare lucidity.

"I learned more from this defeat than from my 10 victories. I'm going to use that to grow even further. What's next? I'm ready to seize every opportunity that presents itself. In any case, this isn't the end of anything at all; on the contrary, it's the beginning of a new adventure, because I'm going to come back even stronger, I promise..."

Huge respect

According to well-informed sources, it is not excluded that in the coming months, he will be offered a world title. With a view to a WBA light flyweight title.

"It's really the category in which he can excel, but it doesn't exist at the European level..." , says his coach and cornerman, Doulyassad Joubij. Not the least dejected in the boxer's entourage. But his analysis echoed that of his protégé.

Because Rakyb, who was unable to immediately find the right distance against that devil of a Noriega, really had the means to turn the tide. The Elda native, of course, did not steal his victory, even if he should have, at the very least, been penalized for an intentional headbutt in the 4th round.

But it was with a tortured body, an open brow, and short of breath that he completed the 12 rounds. At home, in this white-hot room, entirely won over to his cause, he made his greatest experience speak for itself. And won a (new) belt, while Rakyb, for his part, won the hearts and respect of all….