“The belt doesn’t mean much to me; the belt gives me the platform to speak about Palestine,” he said. “The belt gives me a platform to carry that flag, and when I carry that flag, people notice it. People want to know what that flag means. Why do I carry it? Who do I carry it for? There are people that don’t have a voice right now. They don’t have nobody with the platform that I have to speak up for them. So, for myself, I have to do it. My parents are from there, my family’s from there. My brothers lived there. They went to school there. Their blood runs through it deep. And I know the people over there, they’re fighting the real fight. They’re the real warriors.
“I have to keep winning for them because when they see me win, they win. They have a smile on their face, I’ve gotten so many messages, letters from people over there.”
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Although that responsibility carries weight, Muhammad views it as motivation.
Even if he is sore, worn down or struggling through the rigors of a fight camp, he knows people close to his heart are fighting through so much more.
“I know that I’m doing it for something bigger,” Muhammad said. “I’m doing it for them. I have to push harder for them. There’s nothing that’s going to break me mentally, physically, because I know how hard they push. They’re still, every single day, they’re still fighting, they’re still smiling every single day, thanking God that they’re alive, thanking God that they’re breathing, thanking God they still have another day to live. And it just makes me more grateful for what I have every day. I’m blessed. I can train here under a roof, with food, with water any time I want, and I know how good I have it. So, this hard work is nothing.”
