“I’m delighted. Yeah, very happy. Still a bit sore. But, you know, what a mad one!” Martin Hillman reflected over the phone from his home in Orpington after a memorable adventure in Togo. The journeyman boxer had finally achieved a long-held dream, strapping the Commonwealth Silver belt across his middle on a balmy, chaotic African evening.
The journey to this moment was anything but straightforward. Hillman’s challenge for the vacant title against Anwary Twaha was originally scheduled for London’s Tolworth Leisure Centre but was canceled at the last minute when the Tanzanian fighter was denied a visa. Following a fight in Ghana last year, Hillman tried to take the bout to Accra, only for a temporary suspension of boxing there to derail the plan once again.
Fortune smiled when the promoters were able to relocate the event to Lomé, Togo. Hillman, 34, flew from Gatwick to Accra and endured a five-hour bus journey to the Togolese capital alongside his father and trainer, Martin Sr., sponsor Lloyd Campbell, and three cousins.
Related News
“You couldn’t buy that experience,” Hillman said of the rural journey through the Volta region. “We went to all the outer regions and villages. Everything was very different from Accra, and the police stops as we neared the border made it even more surreal. I was determined to just sit back and enjoy it all.”
Fight night was no less unusual. The ring was set up on a beach at Akusa Park Resort, and Hillman’s changing area was an outdoor patio next to a bar where patrons sipped cocktails. “It was funny—these people enjoying their drinks while we were wrapping hands and doing pads. Everything about it was surreal,” he recalled.
Inside the ring, Twaha proved a formidable opponent. The unbeaten Tanzanian, with eight early KOs from ten wins, displayed speed and power that surprised Hillman. “His hands were way quicker than I thought. With those long arms, he was really strong. When he hit me, I felt it, no doubt about that,” he said.
Hillman faced early adversity when Twaha head-butted him in the first round, causing a gushing eye injury. A second head-butt in round two resulted in a point deduction, but Hillman’s focus on fundamentals and his jab allowed him to regain control. By the third round, he scored a knockdown with a sharp left hand.
Though fatigue set in by round five and Hillman briefly engaged in a trade of punches, he maintained his composure. Concern mounted as blood poured from his injured eye, and the ringside doctor intervened. The fight had met the minimum four-round requirement, and Hillman was declared the winner by a technical decision, 49–43.
Celebration was brief. Hillman, a full-time mechanic, suffered heatstroke after vomiting three times post-fight, and had to endure the return bus and flight to Gatwick. “I’ve not really had a chance to properly celebrate yet. I landed at 4:30 am and had to be back at work by 8 am,” he said.
Despite the obstacles, Hillman’s perseverance and hard work paid off. Against all odds, he returned home not only as a Commonwealth Silver super-bantamweight champion but as a testament to determination and resilience—a journey made all the sweeter by its extraordinary challenges.
