Mohammad Waseem’s gold-winning effort at the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto International Boxing Championship – also the country’s only gold medal at the event – has forced the boxing federation to reconsider its stance on the Waseem-Haroon Khan issue where the latter was previously the preferred choice for the Olympics qualifiers.
The Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) has handed Waseem the opportunity to choose his weight category for the event scheduled to start next month in Kazakhstan. The selection of Pakistan’s representative in the 52-kilogramme category became an issue with both boxers preferring the same slot. The PBF, after Waseem’s failure to qualify for London 2012 in the 49-kg category, announced that Haroon would be its preferred option, only for the gold in Islamabad to force a u-turn.
“Waseem will now decide which category he wants and that will be final,” PBF Secretary Akram Khan told The Express Tribune. “We won’t force him to compete in 49kg anymore.”
Despite the issue seemingly settled, another PBF official said that the federation might still ask Waseem to reduce his weight to pave way for Haroon.
However, the former has remained adamant on his earlier stance, as confirmed to The Express Tribune. “I’ll be fighting in the 52-kg category,” said Waseem. “It’s not possible for me to reduce my weight. My gold proves that I’m a better boxer.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 5th, 2012.
COMMENTS (1)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
Right Decision...!!