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Prison for me has become a safe haven. A place that allowed me to reevaluate and reinvent myself. As the saying goes, “Some people get arrested and others get rescued!”

I believe in divine intervention. I believe that sometimes obstacles or obstructions are placed in your path not to hold you back, but to help you build spiritual muscle. Spiritual food is just as important, if not more important, than physical food.

I don’t look at my prison sentence as a mistake, but as a blessing. As I was once told by a wise man, “There are no mistakes in life, only lessons.” I look at life as a test and the world as a big classroom. Every day I wake up, I start a new class taking notes on my life.

The late great Malik Shabazz said he got his associate’s degree in the streets of Detroit, his bachelor’s degree in the streets of New York and his master’s degree when he went to prison. This is when he committed the entire dictionary to memory by writing down the entire book, word for word, page by page. His example inspired me to use my time wisely.

Though you may be locked up physically, you can mentally and spiritually be free. Just as you have people in society who are physically free, but mentally and spiritually locked up. As the saying goes, “Time flies, but make sure you’re riding the wings, not just watching the flight.” I spend my time educating myself and, most importantly, reflecting and contemplating on the hidden meaning and purpose behind my incarceration. In retrospect, I found my calling.

In the city of Syracuse, I’m best known for my boxing talents, competing on the world-class level. I became second in the nation in 1993 and won the bronze Golden Gloves twice in 2000 and 2003. I trained with the likes of Oscar De La Hoya and “Sugar” Shane Mosely. I was a United States Olympic prospect. In 1993, I was pictured in a newspaper article with Mike Hopkins, the ex-assistant coach for Syracuse University basketball.

After the death of my mother, my life took a turn for the worse. It’s like when my mother died, my dreams died. As a result, I suffered from severe depression and anxiety, and I tried to cope by abusing drugs and alcohol. This spell of darkness was short-lived as the trajectory of my life changed once I landed in prison. I’m now sober and clean.

During my incarceration, I enrolled in a personal trainer’s course and passed my final exam. I’ll now be a certified personal trainer upon release. I’m finishing my memoir I wrote called “In The Ring with My Life,” that I would like to get published upon release. I’m also writing inspirational spoken words. My goal is to educate the youth by opening a youth center and having some speaking engagements.

In hindsight, I now see boxing wasn’t my entire life but part of my story. What happened in my past helped me in my future. In the boxing ring I rarely lost a fight, with a record of 70 wins and 10 losses.

But outside the ring, I took many losses. I lost my parents, I lost my sobriety, I lost my freedom and I temporarily lost my mind. Although I had a coach in the boxing ring, I needed a life coach. My goal now is to be a personal trainer and a life coach. Now, I use this harsh experience as fuel to help myself and others.

Yaqin Abdullah is currently incarcerated at Mohawk Correctional Facility.

Published on March 2, 2026 at 10:53 pm