There’s no bigger star in boxing than Mike Tyson, and Libya seems to know that all too well. On August 8, the country played host to a boxing event at the Martyrs of Benina Stadium in Benghazi, held under the World Boxing Association’s (WBA) KO to Drugs program. The initiative was designed to promote boxing, inclusion, and social development in the region—and the occasion marked a significant moment in Libyan history.

The thing is, the sport was banned in the country from 1979 to 2011 under Muammar Gaddafi. He banned boxing as part of his broader cultural and ideological policies. The ban stemmed from his view that boxing was a violent, ‘barbaric’ sport incompatible with his vision of a disciplined, revolutionary society under his Third Universal Theory, outlined in his Green Book. Regard

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