Pakistan boxers up for a hectic year

PBF plans 14 international tournaments before Olympic qualifiers.

KARACHI: After a month-long rest, Pakistan boxers will start gearing up for this year’s hectic boxing calendar that includes more than a dozen international tournaments aimed at helping them prepare for the London Olympics qualifiers.

The boxers will be training under Cuba-based national coach Francisco Hernandez Roldan in a camp that starts in the first week of February.

The Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) has planned 14 international competitions this year before September’s World Championship in Baku, Azerbaijan that will serve as the first Olympic qualifiers. “We’ve tried to arrange maximum international exposure for our boxers before the World Championships,” PBF Secretary Akram Khan told The Express Tribune. “We want as many berths as we can for the Olympics ”

The boxers may start this year’s assignments in Hungary that will be played in the third week of February. The PBF is yet to decide its inclusion in the tournament. Khan said if the coach gives the green signal, the federation will select its three best boxers for the Hungary event.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 22^nd, 2011.