By Shawn Smith

From March 11 to 19, Canada’s Sasan Haghighat-Joo will take the first step in fulfilling the Olympic dream his father never could: he’ll travel to Argentina with the intention of qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Games, taking place this year in Rio de Janeiro. 

If he can finish in the top three during the qualifier he’ll not only represent his country, but his family as well, which has once before seen dreams of Olympic stardom dashed. 

As a member of the Iran national wrestling team, Sasan’s father, Hadi Haghighat-Joo, was denied his opportunity to compete in the Olympics. After qualifying, Iran boycotted the Olympics during the 1980’s due to a poisonous and dangerous political atmosphere.

“The Olympics were boycotted in the 1980’s because of tensions with the Soviet Union,” Haghighat-Joo said. “A lot of countries weren’t able to compete for three years and in those three years, those were the years my dad was a high-level wrestler in Iran.”

Growing up in British Columbia, Canada, the Olympics were a pipe dream for Haghighat-Joo. While most Canadian kids dream of winning a Stanley Cup, he has always had his eye on Olympic gold. 

However, it wasn’t always boxing that he thought would get him there. He grew up an amateur wrestler, competing from an early age with the intentions of one day representing Canada at the Olympics. When he became enthused with mixed martial arts, he began boxing just to improve his chances in MMA. 

When the boxing association found out that I had an MMA fight, I was suspended for a month because you’re not allowed to do both,” Haghighat-Joo said. “I had to make a choice between boxing and MMA and I excelled a lot more at boxing so I decided to stick with it.

It is a decision he hasn’t regretted. The lanky boxer has the build of an amateur standout, a solid jab that sets up the rest of his punches and an forceful style that is unique to amateur boxing. 

“I’d say I’m an aggressive boxer,” he said. “I’m technical, but I’m aggressive with my technique. I’d compare myself with a Gennady Golovkin.”

Haghighat-Joo moved from British Columbia to Guelph, Ontario in 2015 to begin working with Steven Bailey, an Irish-born trainer who has developed into one of the most well-known and respected amateur boxing coaches in Canada. As trainer at the TNT Boxing Academy, Bailey was named Ontario’s coach of the year in 2014 and has helped develop three national champions, Haghighat-Joo among them.

The relationship between them has been a fruitful one. Under Bailey’s tutelage, Haghighat-Joo has developed into one of Canada’s finest boxers. 


 “The first month that I came here, Stevie (Bailey) went totally back to basics,” Haghighat-Joo said. “We worked on bad habits that I had picked up from coaches and gyms in the past. He was able to fix those and work with my strengths. I’ve worked with a lot of coaches who want to teach you a specific way how to box, but the thing with Stevie is that he’ll look at your strengths and see what you’re already good at. It just feels a lot more natural with Stevie.”

The results have shown. Being in Eastern Canada has presented Haghighat-Joo with considerably more opportunities to compete regularly than there were in British Columbia, which has helped his progression. He can fight regularly, as opposed to the few opportunities available in Western Canada.

In 2015, Haghighat-Joo won in the 69 kg. division at the Canadian Elite National Championships, and represented Canada at the 2015 Pan Am Games. While Haghighat-Joo isn’t a favorite to walk away from Rio with gold, he says he’s mentally strong enough to overcome the odds. 

“I absolutely believe I’ll take the top spot,” Haghighat-Joo said. “I’ve been training too hard, I’ve put myself through way too much not to take it. My mind is strong for this tournament. That’s the number one thing is my head space. If my head is on straight, I don’t think there’s anything I can’t do.”

Haghighat-Joo maintains that despite it being a cliché, he does improve every day and doesn’t see him “plateauing anytime soon.”

Unfortunately, there’s one last roadblock for Haghighat-Joo. Traveling the world to compete isn’t cheap. Haghighat-Joo has to raise the money to travel to these international tournaments thanks to a lack of funding available, which is why he has started a GoFundMe account.

“I started the GoFundMe account just to help me with travels mostly because Boxing Canada isn’t covering our travel costs for the next couple of tournaments,” he said. “That money comes out of the pockets of athletes. It’s hard to raise that kind of money while you’re training all the time so a lot of the team is reaching out to either sponsors or making GoFundMe accounts to make the money to go travel.”

A simple GoFundMe search finds that this is not a uniquely Canadian problem: boxers from prominent countries around the world, including the United States, have taken to the online fundraising site to help cover costs. 

“I’m basically asking for people to help me represent their own country,” he said. 

Haghighat-Joo is also selling t-shirts, which he is selling out of his home gym in Guelph. In B.C. his parents are also telling t-shirts. 

“There’s no way I won’t make a tournament,” he said. “If I have to get a loan, I’m going to make that goal. I’m not going to let something like money stop me from going to an Olympic qualifier.”