‘Pakistan boxing camp to include fresh talent’

KARACHI: Pakistan’s boxing camp for this year’s Asian Games will also see some fresh talent as head coach Arshad Hussain has scouted a handful of gutsy fighters in both genders during the National Boxing Championship which concluded here on Tuesday.

“I have marked ten highly gutsy youngsters in the men’s section and five highly talented girls during the National Boxing Championship here and all of them will be put in the national camp for Asian Games,” Arshad told 'The News' in an interview.

“If they get five to six month training then I am very hopeful that the boys in particular will produce good results in the Asian Games and South Asian Games,” said Arshad, also a former Olympian.

“I want to put fifty percent young and fifty percent already tested boys in the camp. It will help us form a solid back-up which will be very helpful for the country in times to come,” Arshad said. Although it is not yet decided when Asian Games camp will be held, Pakistan Boxing Federation's (PBF) president Khalid Mehmood told a news conference a few days ago that the camp for the quadrennial extravaganza will be held after the National Championship which concluded here at the KPT Sports Complex on Tuesday.

“We are yet to decide when we will hold the Asian Games camp but I can tell you that we can feature in seven to eight weight categories in the Asian Games,” Arshad said.

The Asian Games are slated to be hosted by China in Hangzhou from September 23 to October 8.

Arshad said that a good strength of boxers in the camp will help him pick the Asian Games lot more easily.

“If we keep 30 boys and ten girls in the camp it will help me pick the best for the Asian Games. If a fighter is unable to click in a tournament then we will test the one in his back-up in the next event,” he said. “We want our boys to make it to the Olympics this time,” said Arshad, an IBA three-star coach. He said that the country’s top seeds need foreign training ahead of the Asian Games.

“Our boxers need foreign training; unless they get international experience it will be difficult for us to win an international medal. If we get joint training opportunities with foreign nations then it will help our fighters learn and grow properly,” Arshad said. “The standard of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in boxing is high and it would be of great value if we were able to go there for training,” Arshad was quick to add.

Although National Games are also round the corner, Arshad wants the camp to begin before the biennial spectacle which will begin in Quetta from May 15. “If we are able to hold a camp from now, it will be of high value. We will release fighters to their respective departments ten days before the National Games so they could adjust and then again we will check them how they perform in the National Games and how the others do there. And then the best will be picked for the Asian Games,” Arshad elaborated.

Seeing chances of medals in the Asian Games, Arshad urged the federal government to back boxing. “If government supports us then our boxers have the capability to reach the finals of the Asian Games.

We have the chance but we need a foreign training tour; it will give fighting experience to the fighters,” he said.

Arshad was not satisfied with the fitness of the fighters in the recently concluded National Boxing Championship.

“Last year when the national event was held in Quetta boxers were very fit. Those boys who won there and lost here had fitness issues,” Arshad pointed out.

“Fitness comes first and then skills and other things. In the camp, too, we focus on fitness in the morning session and work on skills and other related things in the evening session,” Arshad said.

Arshad wants that the camp for the Asian Games at the Pakistan Sports Complex Islamabad as it has the best accommodation, food facilities and an ideal training zone.