Former world champion Billy Dib, 37-years-old, has revealed to his followers that he has cancer.
Six years ago, Dib lost his first wife to leukemia. The boxer has since remarried and has a young child.
Last week, Dib experienced severe stomach, which led him to a local hospital. He was initially given painkillers and released. Later, a different doctor discovered the cancerous tumor.
The boxer has since undergone surgery, with the entire tumor removed.
“Despite sharing the ring with some dangerous opponents in my career, this is one of the most frightening situations I have found myself in,’ Dib wrote in a Facebook post.
“I am so grateful that they took my pain so seriously and together with my brother Mohammad and Dr. Pham I am grateful that they took action which saved my life. At the moment I am recovering from the surgery and it has been tough. I have been unable to eat for the last 9 days and am contemplating a return to the featherweight division (jokes).”
Dib (48-6, 27 KOs) held the IBO super featherweight title in 2008 and the IBF featherweight belt in 2011.
He’s won three fights in a row since losing by way of stoppage at the hands of Amir Khan in 2019.
Back in March, he defeated unbeaten Jacob Ng by disqualification.
Dib is currently recovering from the tumor removal and at this point has no idea what the future holds.
“They’ve cut it out, they’ve said they’ve got it all but I’m in recovery and it’s very hard,” Dib told Wide World of Sports.
“Who knows what God has got planned for me. The tumor was behind my gallbladder. I’m in bed right now, I don’t know if I need chemo in the future. They’ve taken the tumor out but they want to test it and see what kind of cancer it is and if it’s going to spread.”