Mohibullah loses one-sided encounter

Boxer falters in attempt to reach President’s Cup quarters.

JAKARTA:

Pakistan made a disappointing start to the 21st President’s Cup International Tournament when light-flyweight Mohibullah was thrashed by Naoya Inoue 26-6, whose lethal punch early in the pre-quarter-final match turned the bout one-sided.

In the preliminary round of the 48-kilogramme category, the Quetta-based boxer received arguably the toughest boxing lesson of his career when he received a nasty punch from his rival in the first round. He could not recover from the shock but was able to defend himself from further killer punches from Inoue, to be content with a 26-6 scoreline in the bout.

Mohibullah, one of the leading local boxers, won a gold medal in the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto International Boxing Tournament in his brief international career but could not reproduce that form.  Coach Ali Bux, however, defended Mohibullah, saying that the pugilist from Quetta was inexperienced and the punch that he received early on in the bout affected his confidence for the rest of the match.

Four more Pakistani pugilists will try their luck today in the pre-quarterfinal bouts with Muhammad Waseem facing Reza Korzbori from Iran in the flyweight category, Syed Muhammad Hussain taking on Indonesia’s Dadan Amanda in the bantamweight event, while Amir Khan faces Deni Hutasoit and Arshad Hussain plays against Pasang Tshering from Bhutan.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4^th, 2011.