Thai boxing champ hopes to have martial arts academy in K-P

Saeed Khan’s image was on Muay Thai Day posters displayed across Bangkok this year

PESHAWAR: Unarmed and dangerous is how you can explain a police commando who is a title winning kick boxer of international fame.

Saeed Khan from tribal area of Kohat frontier region works with Sindh Police Elite Force Unit and hopes to set up a martial arts academy in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Working and living in Sindh, Saeed wants K-P government to recognise his feats as a martial arts expert and support him in his endeavours to establish an academy for combat sports.

Talking to The Express Tribune, he said that though Sindh police has given him great respect, he remains unknown in his home province.

Despite winning 50 medals at international arena specially against the Indian opponents, the young Thai boxer says his contribution was not recognized by the government or the Pakistan Sports Board. However, he continued, Sindh IGP Kaleem Imam and Karachi DIG Maqsood Ahmed Momin have encouraged him on winning titles abroad.

Saeed is an athlete of Muay Thai the Thailand style mixed boxing sports. He has won several international matches.

He said that he had started learning Karate at the age of eight and also learnt boxing.

When he went to Thailand for a competition, Saeed said, he was impressed with Thai boxing. He stayed in Thailand to learn the Muay Thai. “My coaches live in Thailand, my passion and respect for the sport earned me the honour that my image appeared on the Muay Thai Day poster in Bangkok,” the man from Kohat said.

Saeed said during his eight-year career of Muay Thai, Saeed said he has knocked out fighters from New Zealand, USA, Portugal, Spain and Malaysia. However, he confesses, he felt best after defeating an Indian opponent by knock out in 50 seconds.

“I enjoy matches with Thai boxers. They always give a good tough time in the ring…after all Muay Thai is their national sport,” Saeed said.

“People in Thailand respect me for my fighting skills, but in my own village, I am known as a member of special unit of police,” he said with remorse over lack of recognition of his talent.

Saeed said he wanted the government to help him set up a boxing and martial arts academy in K-P. Regarding government support, he said, though he won international matches as a Pakistani athlete, no official contacted him for appreciation, neither did provincial or central government helped him in traveling or arranging training facility.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 9^th, 2019.