Zak Chelli told his students he would not be in class because he had to travel to Manchester for a fight. Two weeks earlier, he had accepted a bout against Cuban David Morrell, a former world champion and one of the leading names at light-heavyweight, and on Saturday he produced one of the biggest surprises of the year with a technical knockout in the tenth and final round. To his students he is ‘Mr Chelli’; to British boxing, since that night, he is much more than a late replacement.
The scene captures the double life of the Londoner from Fulham. “I told the students: ‘I’m not going to be here next week because I’ll be in Manchester for fight week’. I told them to have a look at this guy, David Morrell, and they replied: ‘Sir, you’d better win or don’t come back, because it’ll be embarrassing for you’,” he told ‘The Guardian’ after a victory that changed his sporting status.
From the classroom to the ring on two weeks’ notice
Chelli came into the fight as a late replacement after Callum Smith, originally scheduled to face Morrell, withdrew through injury. The call came on 27 April, after his father and trainer, Zakaria Chelli Sr., had pushed on social media for his son to be given the opportunity. “I’m always training with my dad after work. I trained for four hours because my dad has always told me that an opportunity will come. We don’t know who, when or where, but an opportunity will come, because that’s how boxing works,” he explained.
The British fighter had been waiting for a meaningful fight while working as a supply teacher, covering classes at different schools and continuing to train every night. “For that English title fight, I barely made anything. In fact, I had to pay out of my own pocket. Then I spent a whole year out, with nothing coming in, and I was still training every day,” he recalled of a period in which he began to wonder what he was still preparing for.
Before becoming one of the stories of the year, Chelli was already living across overlapping schedules. He works as a supply teacher, moving from school to school and covering whatever lessons are needed. “I teach from GCSE to A-levels because I was a pretty academic student myself. I got 20 GCSEs because I wanted to cover as much as I could, and then I went to university and got a degree in Business Management,” he explained. The classroom has also taught him codes he recognises in boxing. “My mistake when I first became a teacher was that I was always happy. Never smile when you’re a supply teacher, because the kids will rip you apart,” he said. He then drew a direct parallel with the ring: “Before you get into the ring, you’ve got to mentally beat them, and it’s the same with students. You’ve got to let them know you’re going to be in charge.”
Born almost with boxing gloves on
Boxing has been part of his story since childhood. His father, a former professional boxer born in Tunisia, trained Zak and his brother Yahia from an early age. “My dad has been training us since we were kids. If you look at pictures, you’ll find me at just one week old with boxing gloves,” he recalled. Yahia was also an amateur champion, but took a different path: he chose the academic route and completed a PhD in mechanical engineering.
Chelli has brought that mix of sporting discipline and education into his work with young people. “I also teach boxing to kids with behavioural issues or special educational needs. It builds their confidence and communication skills,” he explained. For him, that side of his work carries a value different from any fight result: “You need a lot of patience, but most of them are reaching their targets and enjoying it. It’s rewarding for me to see that I can change lives for good.”
The pressure to win for his wife and daughter
The victory over Morrell was not only a sporting breakthrough. Chelli had gone two years without earning money from boxing since his defeat to Callum Simpson in Barnsley, while building a family with his wife, Eliza, and their 18-month-old daughter. “I needed it, not for myself, but for my wife and daughter, because for two years since the fight in Barnsley I didn’t make a penny from boxing,” he admitted. In another interview, he was even more direct: “For a lot of people, this is entertainment. It’s just a fight. But for me, this is my life. It’s food on the table for my wife and my kid.”
The celebration was brief. After the fight, Chelli went straight back to London because the next day he had a family flight to Tunisia with his wife and daughter, a trip he had booked before knowing he would face Morrell. In the car, while his father drove for hours, he watched the knockout again. “I thought: ‘Oh my goodness, I look scary’,” he said, somewhere between surprise and laughter as he was still taking in what he had just done.
The win opened the door to bigger fights, but Chelli does not want to let go of the life that kept him going while boxing brought in no income. “My wife works for Chelsea Football Club in the marketing team and now that we have a daughter, we’ve found a way. She can work from home three days a week, I can be a supply teacher three days, and the other two days I teach boxing. And every night I train,” he explained. When he returns to Thomas Knyvett school, he will no longer be able to fully hide his identity: “I just hope it’s not going to be hectic, with too much shouting. If it’s chilled and I can teach, then I’ll be happy.”
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