Devastated friends have paid tribute to an aspiring teenage boxer who was stabbed to death on Thursday.
Mahad Ali, 18, of Hornsey Rise, was killed outside a warehouse party in Park Royal, north-west London.
The former Highbury Grove School pupil was said to have been stabbed multiple times in the chest after being set upon by a gang of armed attackers.
One of Mahad’s best friends, Tariq Rahman, met him at Highbury Grove in Year 7. They recently finished their courses at Westminster Kingsway College in King’s Cross.
“I was with him every single day,” Tariq said on Tuesday. “He was the kind of person everyone liked. No one had anything against him. He was the most trustworthy person you could get.”
Mahad had been a member of Islington Boxing Club, in Hazelville Road, Hornsey Rise, throughout his teenage years. He had progressed through its junior academy to compete for the club.
Tariq, 18, of Highbury, added: “He loved boxing. He loved Floyd Mayweather. He knew everything about him. You could ask Mahad any question about Mayweather and he would know it.”
Police were called to the party at about 2.30am on Thursday. Mahad was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead two hours later. There have been no arrests.
Tariq, who held a minute’s silence with friends on Monday, said: “I got a call about what happened when I woke up. I was straight to the hospital. I was with him literally four hours before it happened. This still doesn’t feel real to me.
“He went to the party with a group of friends to have some fun. There was a group of boys who must have had a problem at the party in the previous week and wanted to take their anger out with a massive brawl.
“Mahad did nothing. One of my friends said he was about to go home at that point. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Reggie Hagland, manager of Islington Boxing Club, added: “He was a lovely, lovely kid. I wouldn’t expect him to get into any trouble. I would have thought, not fully knowing what happened, it would have been a case of Mahad being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“He was very dedicated in the gym, always getting on with it. He was a very popular member of our club. We still can’t believe it.”
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