Waseem’s boxing breakthrough

After an epic struggle for funds and support, Mohammad Waseem broke all barriers to make his mark at the professional boxing circuit. The Quetta-born flyweight boxer has become the WBC Flyweight silver champion, a feat no Pakistani boxer has ever achieved. His story is truly inspirational as from the depths of despair, due to dearth of funds and training facilities in Quetta, he has risen to international fame, following his win last Sunday. For years, the sport of boxing has remained the number one passion of localities like Lyari in Karachi and Quetta neighbourhoods. But some extremely talented boxers failed to utilise their immense talent due to a scarcity of support from the government and the corporate sector.

In Pakistan, no sport besides cricket flourishes because athletes get next to no support for pursuing world class training. Unless athletes are exposed to top-class training, they can’t progress beyond amateur level. Squash legends like Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan were incredibly talented but also somewhat fortunate to have been born in an era where technology hadn’t found its way through sports training methodology and one could compete through conventional training methods which are now considered archaic. Waseem and some officials of the Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) pleaded for funds but to no avail, as the incompetence of the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) and the Pakistan Sports Board (PBF) proved an obstinate obstacle to Waseem’s timely progress.

If only Waseem would have got his funds in time, his prospects of qualifying for Rio Olympics would have increased manifold. Waseem established himself as a world- class boxer in his category after a mere two-month training session. With his current form at the professional circuit, Waseem would have had a real shot at snaring an Olympic medal, a feat that was only accomplished by one Pakistani, Hussain Shah, 28 years ago. Will Pakistan sport authorities finally care more beyond fruitless joyrides to various parts of the world and actually invest in sportsmen in the country?

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

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