Troy Nash Jnr hasn’t yet shown his full set of skills. According to his father, one of those talents is showing people how he responds to adversity.
Nash, 5-0 (1 KO), has had a standout year, beating two undefeated fighters and now preparing to face his third unbeaten foe in his upcoming bout – Muhamet Qamili, in the quarterfinals of the WBC featherweight Grand Prix, on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia. A 20-year-old from Colorado Springs, Colorado, Nash was a top amateur who has used the tournament to establish himself as a top up-and-comer in the division. But he isn’t yet satisfied: He wants not only to win but to show resolve under tough circumstances.
“All the greats have had to go to a dark place to win,” Nash told BoxingScene. “I want to go there and see what I am capable of.”
Troy Nash Snr, the fighter’s father and trainer, believes that his son has shown only roughly a third of what he is capable of.
“Imagine going to fix your garage door and you are only using pliers, a screwdriver and a flashlight,” Nash Snr told BoxingScene. “We haven’t used different socket wrenches, different batteries or even reprogrammed the garage door. We have just shown people the basics.”
The 25-year-old Qamili, 16-0 (7 KOs), is an Italian southpaw who has also defeated two unbeaten fighters to reach this point. As confident as the Nashes are in what more can be brought to bear, they aren’t taking anything for granted against Qamili or in the tournament.
“For this training camp, he was like an owl – he had eyes everywhere,” Nash Snr said of his son. “His professionalism went to another level, and he is holding himself to a different standard than his peers.”
Nash Snr spoke of the maturity of the younger Nash. In camp, the fighter often wonders about what difficult circumstances in the ring will feel like and how he might respond. Nash Snr believes the Grand Prix is the time and place to show that his son is a featherweight contender.
“We are in the middle of the hardest tournament in boxing, and still he wants more,” Nash Snr said. “He wants to go to a dark place and show he can win that type of fight.”
Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.
