[1] This caused visa problems when he tried to return to Australia after having gone to Japan with his son Adam (also a boxer) for a boxing match in 2007.
[2][3] The New South Wales Police Force tried to bar Vella from re-entering Australia then, but he was eventually allowed to return.
[4] In 2014 Vella visited his friends and family in Malta, and while he was there, his residency visa was cancelled by the Australian Minister for Immigration and Border Protection.
He began work at the age of eight, carrying buckets of water on a building site for 30 cents a day, and is functionally illiterate.
He also joined the Rebels Motorcycle Club while pursuing a promising career as a boxer; he eventually became the Maltese light-heavyweight champion.