Knockout blow: Boxing community reels as its favourite son is killed

KARACHI:

The boxing community in the city was left reeling after the killings of one of the national boxing coach Sher Muhammad’s son — Shoaib Muhammad — and brothers — Taj Muhammad and Ismail Baloch.

According to the Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) secretary Akram Khan, the killings of these boxers will send out a negative message to other athletes, particularly in Lyari. “It is a shame to lose talented boxers like Shoaib, especially in a manner like this,” Khan told The Express Tribune. “Shoaib was a rising star, while Taj and Ismail have played the sport on a provincial level. I personally know Sher Muhammad, he works as a boxing coach for the Karachi Electric Supply Company and was an international boxer himself. He is a good man — one of the kindest people I know — and he doesn’t deserve this.”

Meanwhile, Sindh Boxing Association head Asghar Baloch, who also attended the funerals, said that this is bad news for boxers all across the province and especially for those in Lyari. “Lyari is a volatile place and boxing is one of the few positive activities that the youth here follows,” said Asghar.

As a coach, the death of Shoaib comes as the biggest loss to Asghar, who claimed that Shoaib had the talent to go on and be a major international boxing star. “Shoaib was the youngest — he was just a kid. He had the passion to become a great boxer and was always eager to compete. He won the gold medal in the 2012 Sindh Games in Mirpurkhas and later went on to take the bronze medal in Lahore in the National Games. He was one of the best flyweight boxers in the country.”

Shoaib’s family portray him as someone who liked to spend his time alone, finding solace more in boxing than in the company of others. However, Ismail and Taj had almost quit the sport and were doing blue-collar jobs to sustain themselves, despite having taken part in major national tournaments. “Due to the government’s lack of interest in the sport, Ismail and Taj were forced to quit boxing,” said one of their friends, Mumtaz.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 11^th, 2014.