'Sponsorless' Waseem on brink of quitting Pakistan

Champion boxer says he has had enough ahead of his world title fight

KARACHI: World Boxing Council (WBC) silver flyweight champion Muhammad Waseem has started training in Lahore for his planned world title bout with Japan's Daigo Higa, but a perennial lack of sponsorship means this could be the last time he is seen training in his own country.

Waseem, 30, recently returned from a four-month stay in Panama, where he took part in a trio of bouts, winning all by early stoppages and improving his unblemished record to 8-0.

But yet again, awaiting the Quetta-born on his return to his land was apathy on the part of his countrymen as well as sponsors.

While he has previously taken such things on his chin, it seems Waseem has finally reached his breaking point.

"I started training in Lahore last week," Waseem told the Express tribune. "Shapes is letting me use their facilities without any charge. Their support is invaluable for me but not many Pakistanis have come forward to help me. It's as if private and corporate sponsors are not even interested in boxing. It has been disappointing for us, and I am thinking about leaving Pakistan for good. What's the point in staying in a country where people fail to acknowledge your achievements."

As disappointed and cash strapped as he is, Waseem knows he can't afford to let his feelings spill into his training as taming Higa in his own backyard would be a monstrous ask — even more so because he is unlikely to get any love from the judges due to his South Korean promoter Andy Kim's nationality.

"Higa has won most of his fights in Japan, and Japanese don't necessarily like Koreans much," Waeem reminded. "Conditions too will favour Higa. There's no other way for me but to knock him out. If we had sponsorship from Pakistan, we could've staged the fight at a neutral venue."