Pak boxer Waseem all set to sign with MTK

KARACHI: Pakistan’s professional boxer Mohammad Waseem is all set to sign a deal with MTK Global, the world’s famous boxer management company, later this month in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“I will inshaAllah sign an agreement with MTK later this month in Dubai. My ticket has been confirmed for January 25 and I hope it will be a good stint with the new company,” Waseem revealed it to ‘The News’ on Monday. It would be a new beginning for the former World Boxing Council (WBC) two-time flyweight world silver champion following a solid but financially difficult stint with his former promoter Andy Kim.

Waseem said that he would want at least four fight this year.

“I can even go directly for world title fight but I would not do this. I would like to get four fights this year in order to boost my ranking. It would also help me weigh myself when I should go for the world title bout. But I assure you inshaAllah that in 2019 I would lift a world title for Pakistan,” the former Asian Games bronze medallist said.

“My first priority would be to get world crown in the flyweight category. After that I will leave it vacant and will opt for another class. It’s my desire to win more titles in different weight categories. The next few years are very important for me,” Waseem said.

He said that he had also challenged his former rival Moruthi Mthalane of South Africa. “I have challenged him and am waiting for his response. He is a good boxer and recently also defended his flyweight title. He knows my strength and knows exactly how I fought against him in the Kuala Lumpur fight,” the Quetta-born boxer said.

After switching over to professional boxing in early 2015 following a superb 2014 in which he got bronze in the Asian Games and silver in the Commonwealth Games, Waseem shot to fame in his pro career when he lifted WBC world silver flyweight crown in only his fourth bout in summer 2016. He then went on to defend it at the end of the same year.

The 2017 had been a critical year for Waseem as he had to confront with financial issues that once had put his career in shambles.However he was lucky to get a new lease in his career when he got an IBF world title bout against Mthalane through an English promoter.