2020 has been a blessing and a curse for Raeese Aleem.
The blessing is that the 29-year-old native of Muskegon, Michigan made the move from prospect to contender at 122 pounds in February with a fourth-round stoppage of Adam Lopez.
The curse? The curse of everyone in the world, the COVID-19 pandemic that, in Aleem’s case, stopped him in his tracks after garnering more than a fair share of momentum from his first ShoBox assignment.
He’s not looking at it that way, though.
“I think the momentum is going to continue to go, even though it’s a big pause on things now,” he said. “The motivation and fuel that’s been put on the fire is all right there, so it’s just understanding that this isn’t gonna last forever and looking at what happens next after this.”
What should happen after this for the No. 13-ranked WBA contender is another televised outing against a fellow contender, then maybe a title shot within the next 12 months. That’s in a perfect world. But Aleem knows that this isn’t a perfect world, especially for an American junior featherweight.
“It’s difficult,” he admits. “It’s hard to get fights, and then sometimes it’s a little political. It’s like, ‘Oh well, they don’t want to fight you right now,’ so maybe they’re cherry picking. And there’s already not a whole lot of guys to pick from, so it can definitely make it harder and more frustrating, especially when you’re in the gym grinding, sacrificing your body and everything like that.”
Aleem’s inability to get the right fights, and basically any fights, had him on the shelf for two years from 2012 to 2014, then two and a half years from 2016 to 2018. Sure, he was 10-0, but the competition was far below the level of a fighter who entered the pros with 65 amateur wins and several Golden Gloves titles in Michigan. That’s not to mention the scarcity of good sparring at home.
So he went west, ending up in the “Fight Capital of the World,” Las Vegas.
“Being able to travel and getting different sparring and getting out of your area, that’s huge for fighters,” he said. “So moving to Vegas for the sparring, I knew it would help me upgrade and make me better.”
Now he calls it home. He still gets back to Muskegon when he can, most recently spending a week there after the Lopez fight, but it’s clear that his game and his confidence went to a new level from the time he settled in the desert. And once he put the gloves back on for real in 2018, people started to sit up and take notice of “The Beast,” who decisioned fellow prospect Marcus Bates in April of that year before stopping his next five foes, the biggest of which was Lopez.
It’s hard to call any fight for an up and comer with less than 20 pro bouts a make or break opportunity, but in a lot of ways the Valentine’s Day bout in Philadelphia was that. Aleem was undefeated with a little buzz, but Lopez was his biggest step up in competition by far. Add in the Showtime cameras on him for the first time and a loss would have taken Aleem down several rungs on the 122-pound ladder.
Instead, he came up big when he needed to the most, almost like a “thank you” to his believers and an “I told you so” to the doubters.
“Going into the fight, I was telling myself I’m on a higher level than this guy,” said Aleem of the biggest win of his career. “I’d heard about him, but I’d never seen him fight. I thought he was a typical, come forward Mexican fighter, trying to be aggressive. And then after the fight I find out he’s a counterpuncher. (Laughs) But still, it just answers all the questions in your mind and everything that you tell yourself. I was able to go out there and do exactly what I wanted to do, and I not only got the win, but I dominated also, so I looked good doing it.”
He did, and also made a bit of a statement by finishing Lopez five rounds earlier than former world champion Daniel Roman did it in 2017. Sure, styles make fights and three years can be an eternity in boxing years, but it is a little badge Aleem can wear, even if he didn’t have the intention to one-up Roman.
“To be honest, that didn’t even cross my mind,” he said. “I knew that they had fought so I have to beat him, but it wasn’t like, ‘Okay, he went nine rounds with Roman so I gotta get him out in five. That never crossed my mind. I did want to get him out of there, though. (Laughs) That was definitely a goal.”
The next goal? Keep moving forward. He’s got a taste of the bright lights and fighting (and beating) legit competition. Now he’s hungry for more.
“I’m still proving to myself how good I am and how great I can become and that’s why I want a meaningful fight,” Aleem said. “I want to get a world title shot and win a world title. And until those type of fights start really coming in, I’m staying on my grind, trying to stay humble and just trying to get there.”
And pandemic or not, he can still see the light at the end of the tunnel from where he’s at.
“Outside of everything that’s going on, I honestly feel like I’m two fights away from making something really big happen and I’m really looking forward to that,” he said. “That’s why I’m in the sport. When it comes to boxing, I feel like I’ve been kind of overlooked and underappreciated. I feel like I should have been here two years ago, maybe even three. But all roads led me to here, and I’m just trying to seize every opportunity I get.”