Australian boxing world champion Billy Dib diagnosed with cancer

Billy Dib, an internationally-admired world championship boxer, has revealed that he has a new cancer diagnosis just weeks after he had revealed news that he had a cancerous tumor in his stomach.

After running tests on the 5 cm tumor, the 37-year-old Australian boxer revealed that he was diagnosed with an aggressive and rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Billy Dib (@billydib)

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is a type of cancer that affects white blood cells, and according to the Cancer Council, about 6400 Australians per year are diagnosed with the disease.

The father-of-one underwent surgery two weeks ago after showing up at the hospital with severe pain in his abdomen. The boxer held the IBO super-featherweight title in 2008 and the IBF featherweight belt from 2011 - 2013 and has 48 wins from 56 bouts. 

At the time, he was not sure whether he would need further treatment. However: "I wanted to give you an update on my health. Results from the tumor removed from my colon two weeks ago are not what I was hoping for," Dib wrote on Instagram.

"I have been diagnosed with an aggressive and rare form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma cancer.

"I’ve had to dig deep many times in my life before and with the grace of Allah, have got through the many struggles before me in the past.

"Cancer will be the hardest opponent I’ve faced but I want you to know that I’m fighting harder than I ever have and God willing, I will defeat this awful disease," wrote Dib.

Dib lost his first wife, Sara, in 2016 due to complications stemming from leukemia treatment, as she died 6 weeks after their wedding. 

"The plan is to start chemotherapy as soon as possible and while I know it’s going to be rough, I have to walk this journey as so many others do every single day with the support of their health professionals, family and friends," he wrote.