The Nickolos “Fox” Farrell Story Beaten down, but not defeated!

BY DAVE RANKIN

One police got on top of him and stepped on his spine. He pulled him backwards (later on he found out that it cracked his L5). He choked him while another Police Officer was still masing him. One officer grabbed one arm and put it behind his back. Another one grabbed his other arm. They still weren’t done. One grabbed his leg. Then they took his knee and broke it.

I sat there listening in shock. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. In front of me was Nickolos “Fox” Farrell, International boxer, Canadian Junior Middleweight Champion, and Olympic Qualifier. As he told me his story, I saw the quiet, subdued man who had entered my office, come to life. His compelling story played out in front of me, and demonstrated heart, character, and determination. His story, although sad, describes the life of a champion, someone who will not give up, even when others think he is out.

Hailing both from Jamaica and Trinidad, Fox grew up boxing. At the age of nine years old, he was already winning championships. His earliest memories come from his first gym Cabbagetown Boxing Club, “There were a lot of champions there that were just in their element. When you’re in the presence of champions, if you want to become then you can become.” One of his favourite memories is when Sugar Ray Leonard came to Cabbagetown and gave him personal lessons. He was only 11 at the time “The greatness of Sugar Ray and he’s talking to me? He saw something in me. The movement. My hand speed; I was very sharp.”

Fox praised his father for helping him achieve such greatness at such a young age. “He understood hard work and what it took. You know, I couldn’t get mad over Michael Jackson’s father being hard on him, because mine was like that too. Waking up in the morning, taking the train. Running down one soccer field to the next, doing that 8-10 times. Then going to school, going to the gym and staying focused. There were times when I wanted to go out and play other sports. I had friends knocking on the door asking for me to come out and play. ‘Oh no, he’s training right now,’ my dad would tell them. I understand why he was so focused on me. When I was in the ring, you saw all that focus.”

Fox’s life went from 0-100 at a very young age. By the age of 20, he had captured the Canadian Junior Middleweight championship, and a string of Ontario titles, just before qualifying for the Olympics. Days before his Olympic fight, he even had a sit down lunch with then-Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. His stardom allowed him to meet legends Shaquille O’Neal, and he was honoured when Bob Marley’s children, recognized him and asked him to join them at one of their concerts. The stage was set for Fox’s reign, but life had something else in store for him.

Fox began to feel ill the night of the concert, which happened to be right before his fight. He wanted to tell his coach, but he knew doing that would put a halt to his Olympic dream. He couldn’t take aspirin or any medication because if it were found in his system, he would be disqualified. “I told myself that I must be nervous, but I don’t get nervous. I love to hear the people! I didn’t know before my fight that I contracted mononucleosis. I didn’t kiss anybody, how did I catch it? I didn’t drink from anybody.”

Fox went on to fight but lost. He remembers his coaches yelling at him. He was not himself, and he still had not told anyone he was sick. His emotions ran high, and at his press conference they spilled out on national television. “So Nick, how was your fight?” A reporter questioned. Fox responded, “You know, some fights can make you or break you, but it seems like this fight kind of broke me.”  “I said it in a cracked voice because I really didn’t know how to answer that. I wanted to tell him that something was wrong with me, but if I said something, they were going to think it was an excuse. I wish I’d said something then, because the doctor would have checked me and told the whole world that Nick Farrell had mono and he still fought a champion.

Devastated Fox, returned home, got better, and started training again. He began looking for sponsors, but this was difficult for him at the time. “I’m a Canadian champion and I’m looking for sponsors. I can’t find anyone to sponsor a black champion, a Rasta champion.”  In order to continue to live his dream, he found himself a full time job, and was also hustling VHS videos on the side. It was during one of his VHS sales that his life changed forever.

On September 4^th, 1999, Fox and his brother met a friend at Jackson Square in Hamilton who wanted one of the videos he was selling. While there, an incident began when Police Officers who approached Fox and his friend. According to Fox, the three were profiled right away, and back up was called. The Police Officer began to beat Fox’s friend, and although Fox’s brother wanted to leave, Fox did not feel right leaving his friend who was being beaten severely. Eventually, they had to leave, so they went to a store to buy some blank tapes. When they came out, about 20 Officers surrounded the store.

The story moves quickly here, and he shares the horrific details of the severe beating that he and his brother received at the hands of Hamilton Police. They were both mased, kicked, thrown to the ground, punched, sexually abused, choked. “People thought it was a movie,” Fox told me. They charged Fox and his brother for assaulting a police officer and fined $5,000 in damages. It took four years and almost 20 times to get remanded. “They wanted my brother and I to plead guilty, and then when I tried to sue them, they said my limitations ran out. But they put limitations on my body. It took me a long time to get myself back up. I had to find a way in myself to want to be alive. It was like learning how to walk again as a baby.”

Fox never did get back to where he wanted to. His body had taken such a severe beating, that he was not able to fight anymore. So, he decided that he was going to find a way to give back to the community that had supported him. Fox began to teach kids and teens how to box and stand up to bullies. His gym Hadaway Youth Boxing located at 747 Barton St, hosts three classes a week where students between four and eighteen-years-old learn self defence that builds their confidence, and helps them learn anti-bullying strategies to avoid conflict. His work was honoured when he received the John C. Holland Award for his coaching and mentoring of black at-risk youth.

“It took me a long time to get myself back up but now, my motivation is to help our youth.”