Father Siraj Uddin is a boxer. His motivation to become a boxer started at the age of two. 21-year-old Hamza Uddin now dreams of becoming the first British-Bangladeshi world champion.
Hamza signed with Essex-based Matchroom side Eddie Hearn's Brentwood earlier this year.
Hamza said his father was trained by British South Asian four-time world kickboxing champion Kash Gill. He said, 'My father was a boxer in his day, he was just starting out. But could not go far due to injury. I have a video for my second birthday; I can barely walk. But I'm punching the bag. From the time I was seven or eight, my father taught me boxing. My first fight was at the age of ten and that's when we took it seriously. There was faith, I can do something.'
Hamza, a business management student at the University of Wolverhampton, said, 'Every day I'm boxing, I'm achieving something new for my people. But there is a huge dream to become world champion and to be the first British Bangladeshi.'
Hamza's professional record is two wins out of two with one knockout, according to Matchroom Profile.
Hamza said, 'Aamir Khan, who is British-Pakistani. He was an inspiration to most South Asian boxers. But being a role model and a Bangladeshi, there is a void in that place. That's why my dream is so strong, because one day if I can do it, maybe one day British Bangladeshi kids can say, Hamza Uddin did it, we can do it too.'
He is getting the support of the Bangladeshi community, 'I am proud that the Bangladeshi community is behind me. It inspires me. But I also feel pressure, because they are hopeful about me, I can't let them down.'
