Boxing a successful path through life

Today Shemsi is a passionate boxing trainer. His aim is to pass on his enthusiasm for the sport to youngsters and to keep them off the streets. Back in his own youth, boxing gave him a future. Shemsi was an orphan who was raised by his older brother in what is now Kosovo. He was keen to gain his independence at an early age. At 16, he joined the local boxing club, and at 18 he entered his first professional fight. That was followed by more than 280 fights and impressive successes: four times Kosovo champion, eight times ex-Yugoslavia champion, and European champion in 1988. Thanks to his 140 kg hitting power, he won by knock-out 120 times. His opponents regularly went down.
Shemsi’s eyes sparkle when he talks about his boxing career. He talks about the daily training sessions, the mental preparation for every fight and how he was barely able to sleep the night before due to his excitement. During his career, Shemsi went through seven weight classes, starting at 48 kilos and finishing with 75 kilos.

His career ended abruptly in 1989 when unrest broke out in what was then Yugoslavia. The government banned all professional sport, and in 1992 Shemsi fled the country. He came to Switzerland, but initially had to leave his wife and children behind. They were able to join him a year later. “I’m not angry, even though my career was cut short. It was all about survival and the lives of my family and friends,“ says Shemsi.

Ten years from refugee camp to first job
The family lived in the refugee camp in Lichtensteig, Toggenburg. Shemsi regularly went to the phone box in the post office to call his relatives in Kosovo. One day in 1992, the trip to the phone box changed everything. Shemsi found a wallet with a large amount of money in the booth. It was a small fortune. He handed over the money to his support worker in the camp, and the police were called. The next day, the family was allocated an apartment.
Shemsi waited a total of ten years to obtain his residency permit. He got it in 2002 and was finally able to search for work. He quickly found a job as a painter. In 2007 he joined IGP and has worked in the Production department ever since. He says he likes working at IGP because the company is a fair employer. As a sportsman, he finds that particularly important. Right from the start, he felt he was treated with respect, appreciated, and supported. Shemsi says the night shifts don’t bother him because challenging his own body is part of his DNA.

Passionate Trainer
For many years, Shemsi has been a trainer at sports club Azem Kampfkunst in Wil and Winterthur. Since he started training Azem Maksutaj there, the fighter has celebrated major victories. Today, Maksutaj is a 14-time world champion in Thai boxing. Shemsi is extremely proud of this. He teaches boxing two or three times a week . “All kinds of people come to us to train. For example doctors who want to clear their heads,” says Shemsi. Discipline has always been part of his life. As a young adult at the boxing club, he had to follow strict daily routines and rules. Before important fights, he sometimes fasted for up to three days to keep his fighting weight. Then came the war, the flight from his home country, and the struggle to build a new life in a foreign country. At 62 years of age, Shemsi looks back on an intensive life. He plans to stay at IGP until his retirement and then either work part-time as a trainer or set up his own boxing studio in Kosovo.