The Elomar Brothers: One of boxing's most violent tales

They were the two eldest sons of a Lebanese immigrant family from Sydney and both were born and raised there. Their parents, though Muslims, were never overly religious and were of moderate views. Despite the violent conflict between religious groups in his homeland, their father never was a hater. And the brothers, Ahmed, born 1983 and Mohamed, born 1984, were just like any other Aussie boys growing up, not differing much from their Christian, European-descended peers. They took up boxing and did well. But then, a meeting with a radical Islamist imam would change their lives forever-for the worse.

Their father emigrated to Sydney in the 70's and was successful in establishing himself there. Mamdouh Elomar became big in construction business after emigrating from Tripoli in Northern Lebanon together with two brothers. He worked hard to set up a life in Australia and now runs a multi-million engineering and construction business in West Sydney. He was always grateful to Australia, but his sons would turn out to be a different story altogether, a much unhappier one. "Today our kids are either at one extreme, partying or using drugs, or at another extreme with religion. I don't teach my children to hate non-Muslims. I have taught them to love everyone", he says. His sons were dedicated to boxing and also trained hard to rise in this world. They were trained by Billy Hussein, the most famous and successful Lebanese-Australian trainer. In 2005, he said of the brothers: "There is nothing special about them when it comes to natural gifts but they work very hard in the gym." They also had jobs at the same time and were financially independent. Both turned pro in 2004 and fought first as featherweights. They were both undefeated for a long time and both only have 1 pro loss in their careers. Ahmed has won the Australian super featherweight title, IBF Pan Pacific featherweight title, the IBO Pan Pacific featherweight title and the WBO Asia Pacific Youth super featherweight title, the last one with a stunning first round ko over Willie Kickett, 13-0 at the time and highly touted. But that fight was perhaps the first foretaste of things to come: after it ended, Elomar's unruly entourage entered the ring too fast, swarming it completely. Kickett's fans were in the stands and got pissed because of what they saw as the sign of disrespect towards their fighter and started first throwing bottles at Ahmed and his entourage and then even folding chairs. Instead of running away or going for cover, Ahmed showed reckless bravado when he charged towards where the things were being thrown and made a gesture of defiance as he stood there in the ring, being pelted with bottles. He also threw some of the chairs back.

This was one of the most infamous post-fight riots in Australian history and the live sending was interrupted prematurely because of the violence of it. Mohamed was no stranger to incidents and bad temper either: in his 2006 fight against Matt Powell, he got into a nasty exchange of low blows and dirty fighting before both men were disqualified for their antics. The rematch didn't go much better and Mohamed was eventually disqualified for excessive low blows. That remains his sole loss. He only won the Australian super featherweight title and fought only once between 2008 and 2013. There was a speculation why his career ended so abruptly, but it would be revealed soon. The brothers, it turned out, had an uncle who was a black sheep in the family; in 2009 Mohamed Ali Elomar was arrested for planning a terrorist attack in Sydney. Before that, in 2007, Ahmed was arrested while vacationing in Lebanon with his wife and two sons, under suspicion that he had joined a terrorist cell. Two other men were arrested as well. Known as "Trigger", he was a hard hitter but that nickname would gain a negative meaning when in September 2012, he smashed a policeman's head in with a pole during the violent protests of Muslims which was incited by a video. For this he was arrested and convicted to a 3-year jail sentence, but it turned out he would be better off than his brother. As mentioned, Mohamed's last fight was in 2013 and after that he disappeared from the ring. A year or so later, a shocking explanation was revealed: he had joined ISIS. He posted messages on Twitter in 2014 where he indiscreetly threatened Australia and joked about returning to the ring,"I'll be bak in direct conflict very soon, just need time for my knee injury suffered against Jash al hoor."

But even more shocking was the picture that resurfaced soon thereafter, where a smiling Mohamed Elomar, dressed in proper jihadist attire, was pictured smiling broadly with two severed heads in his hands. A year later, on 19 June 2015, he was killed in Mosul, Iraq. Just another victim of religious fanatic teaching, which was taught to him by Sheik Feiz, an Imam in Sydney, who ironically has now changed and preaches non-violence. But it's too late to help Mohamed Elomar. Ahmed was released from prison in August last year and while in it has been involved in numerous altercations, including one where he attacked a guard, but since then has shown remorse for his actions and was released, despite protests of several authority figures. His mother described him as not very intelligent and his lawyers told the court during his trial that he suffered from "impaired intellectual state." Whatever the truth, his life will never be the same again. But at least he has one.