sports

March 18, 2023

Libya’s boxers recover from Kadhafi-era knockout

TRIPOLI: Omar Zlitni holds a decades-old, black-and-white photo of himself as a boxer in his prime, posing in shorts and a training vest before Libya’s then-dictator, Moamer Kadhafi, banned his beloved sport.Boxing was “in his blood”, said the 63-year-old Tripoli resident who proudly keeps the image as his phone’s wallpaper.In 1979, he was just 19 when boxing, along with wrestling and other combat sports, was banned by Kadhafi, who considered such contests a threat to his personality...