Pakistani boxer Ghulam Nabi dies aged 62

The year 2020 has been about deaths and Pakistan has lost one more boxer this year, as former Asian Junior Champion and international medal-winning pugilist Ghulam Nabi breathed his last in Lyari, Karachi on Thursday.

The 62-year-old has been ill for a long time, while he has been survived by his sibling, coming from a boxing family, he had no children of his own however he made strides in the sport as a young man. He started boxing as a child at Muslim Azad Boxing Club in Kakri Ground Lyari, as international referee judge Ali Akbar Shah Qadri remembers Nabi to be a beautiful boxer to watch, while getting the Asian Junior Championship title in the lightweight category in 1978 and then moving on to middleweight in the later part of his career.

While the biggest honour for Nabi, according to Qadri is that he got close to his idol Muhammad Ali when the icon visited Pakistan for the first time in 1988.

"Nabi was a beautiful boxer to watch, he was so agile," Qadri told The Express Tribune. "Extremely fast, I still remember him taking the national title in 1980 and no one could beat him in his category at the time.

"His biggest and the happiest moment was to meet his idol Muhammad Ali. In fact he was very much like Ali in his demeanour too, but very soft-spoken, very collected. And he was always very gracious as an athlete too. 

“I still can't forget how happy he was when Ali came and he really struck a chord there with the legend I felt.  Ali was surprised to see him. But we have lost our own star today (July 2), he will be missed for his fast pace and humility."

Qadri added that he has seen Nabi growing up to be a responsible man who despite coming from a boxing family made sure that he finished his education.

"He was a bright child, we went on to have a job in K-Electric (formerly known as KESC) and became security inspector there too after retiring from boxing," said Qadri.

On the other hand, Nabi's friend and neighbour as well as Sindh Boxing Association official Asghar Baloch remembers Nabi to be a great boxer and an even better friend.

"He was a good man and we even won Pakistan medals, especially in the competitions during the Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD) era against the boxers from the member countries in the time," said Baloch. "He never married but he was a proud son to his family, he came from a boxing background with his father being a boxer, his brothers too. It was a real craft for him, he played for K-Electric in the national competitions and then got retired, he had been sick for a long time now, it was just his time to go, and he will be missed," said Baloch.

The funeral for Nabi took place on July 2 after Maghrib.

Earlier this year Pakistan also lost two-time Olympian Usmanullah Khan.