Waseem KOs replacement boxer Calvo

Pakistani boxer maintains unbeaten record and top rating in WBC

KARACHI: Pakistan's Muhammad Waseem registered his sixth knock-out on Monday and remained undefeated in his eighth bout of the career as he defeated Jose Luis Calvo in Panama.

Waseem won the bout within a minute with a knock-out in the first round against the 32-year-old opponent who was actually a replacement for Carlo Melo who abandoned the fight and went missing just hours before the event.

The World Boxing Council Silver Flyweight Champion Waseem believes it was more about him having a fight at the end of the day instead of a boxer itself when Melo decided to not to show up despite signing the contract and going into the weigh in.

"Of course it feels great to record the sixth knock-out of the career, it’s a very good feeling," Waseem told The Express Tribune. "It was more of a blind-date kind of a situation. I had never seen Calvo before, I had no idea he was there, I was only expecting Melo; it was in fact only when I was in the dressing room that I was told about what Melo has done.”

He continued: "He just went missing after signing the contract and weigh in. My promoter in Panama has been very kind and smart. None of the officials had told me about it, but then he came to me and told me that now I will be fighting Calvo as they found him urgently, and I must thank Calvo too for agreeing to fight. Against Melo, it’s a win. He just ran away, conceded."

Waseem participated in three bouts during his four-month stay in Panama. Earlier he knocked-out Ivan Trejos and Eliecer Valdez in July.

With Melo too, Waseem was originally scheduled to fight on September 23 in Columbia, but he did not get the visa on time and the event was then rescheduled to September 30.

Waseem said that it would have been very disappointing for him to not to have a fight after Melo's disappearance and he had been training for it and went through more than 100 rounds of sparring.

"I was glad the promoter didn't tell me before, I would've gotten extremely worried. In fact, when I was told I'd fight Calvo, who weighs more than me, I was happy. I don't back down from any situation, so I took it as an opportunity. I'm just grateful for it and the knock-out was easy," said Waseem.

The 2014 Commonwealth Games silver-medallist went on to say that his target is to take on Japan's Daigo Higa in January next year for the WBC title and all the other fights are just a way to improve his skill.

"My eyes are on the WBC title, nothing less. I know I have to go to Japan and that fight requires me to win with a knock-out, nothing less, so I'll be training for that now, giving my all in for the do-or-die fixture. These fights have helped in keeping my WBC rating on the top, so I'm happy with them," explained Waseem.

Waseem will be returning to Pakistan after leaving Panama on October 4.