RIYADH: Sometimes the most inspiring journeys begin with life’s toughest challenges and this is the case with Lee Starks who transformed a difficult past into a lifelong mission of mentorship through boxing.
Starks moved to Saudi Arabia several years ago from a gym in Plano, New Jersey, that produced 21 champions, and is now a founder of TKO Fighters in Riyadh.
He is helping to shape the future of boxing in Saudi Arabia from its grassroots while mentoring a new generation of athletes and contributing to the Kingdom’s rapidly evolving sports landscape.
Starks’ journey from a troubled teenager in New Jersey to becoming an internationally recognized boxing coach had many turns that changed his views on life.
“I was boxing myself to stay out of trouble. And then I stopped boxing when my oldest daughter was about to be born.”
He added that when his daughter was bullied at school, he decided to take action. “So what I did was I started to train her so that she could protect herself.
“And I started a small little (gym). I had a barber shop at the time. So I had a basement at the barber shop. So I put up a heavy bag just to train my daughter.”
Starks added that when the neighborhood children saw his daughter’s newly acquired skills they started coming to his barbershop wanting to train.
“So before I knew it, we started taking the kids to do tournaments. They started winning Diamond Gloves, Golden Gloves, and that was how it all started,” he said.
That experience made Starks make a switch to become a trainer. “Well, you know, it was the confidence that I saw that she built from boxing.
“And some people look at boxing as a negative thing if they don’t understand it was great self-defense. And I noticed that her grades had improved while she was boxing, her confidence as far as just raising her hand in the classroom to ask a question.
“Things changed ... She started to change ... And I said, well, so then it made me realize more kids need to be involved in this.”
Starks decided to move to Saudi Arabia to follow his heart and build a family. He has made Riyadh his home and married prominent Saudi Arabia singer Dalia Mubarak.
“I decided to pack up and move, and I was like, this is the one for me. And that was it. So then I said, you know, we’ll start boxing somewhere else.”
As soon as Starks arrived he contacted the official governing body, the Saudi Boxing Federation. “So this was like five years ago. And at the time, boxing wasn’t really ... there was really not too much boxing here.
“I think they had a tournament every, two or three years something like that. So I could be saying that wrong. But then, I started to reach out to the federation.
“I started training kids on my own, and then I noticed that the federation started to build (and working with) more youth. So the kids that I was training, started just putting them in the competitions and went from there.”
Starks’ plans took an unexpected turn when he and wife Mubarak parted ways. “No, I mean we’re good, you know ... So there’s no problems. We co-parent everything,” he said.
There were difficulties, he added: “I went through a dark time where I was ... I put everything into the marriage. And you know, unfortunately it didn’t work out … we were going into different directions.
“But I had to ... I had to regroup and figure myself out, and I had to come out of a dark place.”
He said that he put all his energy into work. “And that’s that. That’s what made me better at coaching.”
He focused on building TKO Fighters, one of Saudi Arabia’s pioneering boxing academies, and creating opportunities for local talent.
“It was taboo or something different. Which obviously is now a norm,” he said.
He said it was an interesting experience to introduce boxing to the females who had never boxed. “Because it’s like, not only are you their coach, but you are like their counselor. You are their father, you know, because they go through so many emotional rollercoasters in the boxing.”
Starks has contributed to the rise of women’s boxing in Saudi Arabia —working with athletes including Sara Al-Shahrani and Salma Fahad, and witnessing their historic achievements globally.
“You know, it doesn’t really seem historic to me. I mean that’s just the work that has to go in. But it was difficult because taking her (Al-Shahrani) to Africa and a Saudi woman in the middle of Yaounde, Cameroon.
“OK, that wasn’t normal but it was an interesting thing. She went there. She fought with confidence. She won. She made me proud.”
Starks has gained support from Princess Nouf bint Mohammed Al-Saud who helped to set up an exhibition. “She was amazing. She helped us do one of the first pro events that they had before the big pro events.
“It was a minor pro event, it wasn’t sanctioned. So we got some athletes from Dubai by way of Africa. And they fought some of the local guys that were pro boxers, and then male fighters. It was a really great event. And the federation supported it.”
Starks is currently preparing several professional boxers ahead of their bouts in Saudi Arabia.
