From Singapore to South Korea: Venue for Waseem’s title fight changed

Pugilist’s plan for bout remains unchanged though

KARACHI: The venue of Pakistan’s only professional boxer Muhammad Waseem’s upcoming World Boxing Council Silver flyweight title bout with Philippines’ Jether Oliva has been moved from Singapore to Seoul, South Korea.

But Waseem’s manager and promoter Andy Kim remains unperturbed by the fight relocation and says his client is just as confident heading into the July 17 fight as he was before.

“The venue has been changed and the fight will now take place at Hilton Hotel in Seoul,” Kim told The Express Tribune. “But it is a title bout and Waseem is in great shape. Even at the WBC 30 days weigh in, he was ripped.”



Of the two fighters, Oliva is more experienced, having fought 201 rounds in 31 bouts in his career and is ranked 57th in the world. Waseem, however, has a better record and specially trained at Floyd Mayweather Jr’s gym in Las Vegas.

The Quetta-based pugilist has secured knockout wins in all three of his professional bouts and also had an impressive amateur record with 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medal and 2010 World Combat Games gold medal to his name.



“The training is going well,” said Waseem. “It is a dream to win the world title and it will be huge for me and Pakistan, so I’m training harder than ever. I’m confident that I will win the bout. I’m learning a lot about my game, thanks to Jeff Mayweather’s coaching.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 20^th, 2016.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.