Arjon Basi, still only new to professional boxing, is a ticket-seller who brings loud, raucous support. But just before his fight on Sunday night he will look out to an empty seat.
He always leaves a chair unoccupied in memory of his father.
When Basi was just a teenager, his father suffered a sudden heart attack and died.
“My dad was my hero. Definitely was a big influence on me,” Basi told Sky Sports. “It was really pushing to have someone that you knew was so supportive of you. A good father is the only person in the world that wants you to do better than them.
“Even now, I’m getting goosebumps when I’m talking about him. I always leave an empty chair when I fight, for my father.”
He explained: “Whenever I used to fight I’d get in the ring and the first thing I’d do I’d look out to my dad. I’d always look out and he’d give me the nod and I’d be like, ‘now it’s time to go’. Now I sort of look out and I look at the seat and I nod at the seat because … he’s there, I know he’s there.”
Basi pays tribute to his father when he fights
Basi, 25, was enjoying a promising amateur career when his father died. He almost lost his way with the sport.
“That following year, two years was a really, really strong mental battle, really found it tough,” he said. “My dad was a huge part of my boxing journey.
“I remember some of the conversations we had back in the day and it lights that fire again.
“It’s a big factor for me.”
He still had hurdles to overcome. He damaged tendons in his right wrist, and then torn ligaments in his left wrist threatened to end his boxing career.
“They did MRIs, they did every scan and said, ‘look you’re going to struggle to pick your kids up when you’re older, you should never box again’. Really harsh things, they’re not things I want to be hearing,” Basi recalled.
“I felt like my whole world came crashing down on me. Boxing’s not just a hobby, it’s my life.
“When they told me you won’t be able to do it ever again I’d be lying if I said I didn’t shed a tear or two. It was a very tough time.”
Somehow Basi did make it back. “I really persevered,” he said. “Got told randomly, ‘it’s a miracle, it shouldn’t have healed the way it has, you’re good to go back’.”
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Caroline Dubois and Terri Harper top the bill at Kensington’s Olympia
But afterwards he could have lost more than his boxing career. “I was getting really dizzy randomly and I was really out of breath,” he explained. “I had a blood clot in my lung.
“They told me look you’ve got a pulmonary embolism. It’s genuinely life threatening.
“If I had tried to leave it for another couple of days, the conversation could have been very, very different, if any conversation at all. It was a very risky situation I was in.”
That was the moment he almost gave in. “I sort of looked up at the sky and thought is it a sign for me to stop. Is something pulling me away?”
He did not however despair. He pressed on. “I just kept my mind strong and had to push through.”
Basi recovered his health and is now two fights into his professional career. He will box in a preliminary bout at Olympia in Kensington before the televised portion of the card.
He is continuing to enjoy the journey, especially with that tremendous support behind him.
“Boxing ran in my family blood, everyone in my family boxed,” he said. “Honestly it [his support] is manic. If you heard York Hall on my debut, I swear it erupted. It was crazy.
“I’ve walked out, I’ve just heard this roar, then next thing I know I was smiling, laughing…”
Watch Dubois vs Flores and Scotney vs Flores live on Sky Sports from 7pm on Sunday.
