Waseem’s bout against Chuwa cancelled

One of boxer’s MRI did not reach the British Boxing Board in time

KARACHI: Former World Boxing Council silver champion Muhammad Waseem's comeback bout against Tanzania's John Chuwa has been cancelled.

The fight was supposed to take place in Glasgow on June 22 at Emirates Arena and Waseem was very excited about returning to the ring after almost a year.

This would have been the first bout for Waseem with his new management MTK, however, he said that the fight had to be cancelled as one of his MRIs did not reach the British Boxing Board and therefore he did not get the clearance.

"It is shocking for me to find out just a day before the weigh-ins," Waseem told The Express Tribune. "All of my hard work I put in during Ramzan and before goes to waste. I had my kit ready, the songs too. I was going to pick for my entrance and everything.

"I am just hungry to get back to the ring, but now I would have to wait. I can't see any other reason but to say that maybe this was not meant to be, this fight on June 22. I could have never thought that there could be this technical issue too."

Waseem said that the problem must have been of miscommunication as two of his MRIs should have been submitted. He said that his coach worked hard not to get the fight cancelled, however there is no other way now.

"I'll just wait for the next date, it can be July 5, it can be further away next month, but I know there will be a fight, all is not lost. I am just waiting here. It was disappointing but I can't remain in that state, I need to hope for a better fight," said Waseem.

Waseem had become the first Pakistani to win the WBC title in 2017, defeating Jether Oliva and then defending the title successfully against Geimel Magramo the same year.

Despite the gap, Waseem is still ranked among top 10, ninth with WBC and 14th with IBF.

Waseem has nine professional bouts to his credit and he had won the title in his fourth pro fight, which was a surprise to many. He has six knock-outs, eight wins and only one defeat that was against Mthalane.