Watertown’s Fahad Khan enjoyed a very successful winter, winning titles on the wrestling mat and in the boxing ring.
The WHS senior competed on the Raiders wrestling team, with whom he won MIAA Div. 3 North Sectional championship in the 106 pound division in his second year of competition. He became the first wrestler in Watertown history to be a two time sectional champion. In the meantime, he also competed in the boxing ring, where he won the 110-pound Novice All-New England Final at the Golden Gloves Night of Champions at Lowell Memorial Auditorium.
Some of the skills he learned wrestling helps him when he puts on the gloves, Khan said.
“Wrestling does help in boxing. When you guys in boxing you can’s be always throwing punches,” Khan said. “Sometimes you have to grab the person, if you get hit hard. So you can grab him and recover yourself.”
Khan enjoyed success, despite being a relative newcomer in both sports. He moved to Watertown from Pakistan when he was in ninth grade, but he arrived near the end of the school year. He didn’t hear about the high school wrestling team until his junior year, when his brother, Farhan, joined the middle school team.
“When I became a junior, Coach Kevin Russo told me, ‘We have a wrestling program in our school,’ and then when I applied for the wrestling team,” Khan recalled.
His brother wrestled for the junior varsity team as a freshman, and Khan said he could be successful.
“If he dedicated himself to wrestling, he’s gonna be a good wrestler,” Khan said. “I’m pretty sure he can win States and Sectionals — 100%.”
He also found boxing in a roundabout way. His brother followed combat sports, and they both began training at Title Boxing in Watertown, but the training focused more on fitness.
“Then we found out about Nonantum Boxing Club. So when we went to Nonantum, we started taking fitness classes there too, but one day there was a sparring session,” Khan said.
Farhan got into the ring with a boxer who had competed at nationals several times.
“My brother, he sparred with him,” Khan said. “He beat my brother, but my brother, he was tough enough. He just stepped into the ring with him.”
They caught the eye of Nonantum boxing coach Mark Gargaro.
“So coach told me, ‘when you’re gonna step into the ring?'” Khan said. “I was like, whenever you want me.”
He progressed enough to enter the Golden Gloves competition.
“It was a good experience,” he said. “I was a bit nervous and at the same time I was excited, because I knew I would just go in there, just play. I wasn’t worried about the result.”
Khan competed in both sports this year, but focused mostly on wrestling. Along with his Section title, Khan got fourth at the Div. 3 State Meet, and competed at the All-State Meet. He only hit the boxing gym about once a week in preparation to compete.
He has more matches coming up, including the Junior Olympics in May. He has his eye on a bigger stage, however.
“Right now, I’m just focusing on boxing, fight as much as possible. I just want to go to nationals, win maybe like two national championships, and then continue wrestling, too,” Khan said. “My
goal is to be UFC champion. I want to go to UFC.”
After graduating in June, Khan said he plans to go to trade school, likely to learn to be an auto mechanic, and also continue to focus on becoming a UFC fighter.