He was coached for free to become champion

When he was 15, four schoolmates ganged up and beat him up so badly he had to be hospitalised for about five days.

Mr Muhammad Muslihin Omar, now 23 and a full-time boxer, looks back at that moment as the starting point of his career.

He had felt betrayed by his friends for not helping him and he decided he needed to be able to defend himself.

But he took it one step further and started fights with anyone in school who was interested. He found willing partners who wanted to prove themselves and they would fight in school and around the neighbourhood in Bedok.

Looking back, Mr Muslihin acknowledged that if he had been caught by the police then, he could have ended up in jail.

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Instead, when he was 17, his fighting spirit caught the eye of Mr Mohamed Zafar Hussein Malik, a boxer who ran the gym he frequented.

Mr Muslihin is one of the four students Mr Zafar has been coaching for free at Boxfit Gym in Eunos Community Club.

Training about five to six times a week, Mr Muslihin twice won his bouts in the boxing category at Malaysian mixed martial arts contest Ultimate Beatdown, once last November and another time earlier this month.

Mr Zafar, 37, said: "I feel that I have the ability to transform people and make them into champions."

He had undergone a personal transformation from a skinny teenager to a boxer himself. He had turned to boxing in his early 20s to get fitter before getting serious with the sport in his late 20s.

He said: "Most people retire around 30 to 34, but I'm still competing."

Since it was a dream of his to own a gym, Mr Zafar decided to buy over Boxfit Gym around eight years ago.

He said: "I have the strength to change myself drastically, so it felt like it was my destiny to help and motivate others to transform themselves as well."

But is teaching youngsters how to fight a good idea? Mr Zafar thinks it is.

He said: "There's a misconception that if you teach youths how to fight, it makes things worse because they will join gangs.

"However, they will actually become more humble and have more self-confidence."

He said youngsters choose to join gangs because they are insecure and in need of protection.

"But when I teach them how to fight, they will be able to protect themselves," he said, adding that being in the gym also gives youngsters a sense of belonging and a chance to meet people who can inspire them.