Boxing drought making pugilists rusty

KARACHI: Since last featuring in an international event in June, Pakistani boxers have been staying idle which has worried them a lot.

“This is really a disturbing situation. The lack of activities has made us idle and mentally depressed,” a key international boxer told ‘The News’ on Thursday.

It was in June when Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) last sent its brigade to Baku for participating in the world qualifying round for the Olympics.

However, no Pakistani boxer could qualify for this year’s Rio Games in which a symbolic seven-member national contingent comprising a couple of swimmers, a couple of athletes, two shooters and Japan-based judoka Shah Hussain featured.

Since the Baku qualifiers, the PBF has been inactive because of various reasons. Lack of coordination between the PBF president and secretary has been hurting the game beyond repair for the last two years. And now various groups are looking forward for PBF elections which are due by December 20. These are the two reasons why the authorities are unable to do anything for grooming the boxers.

“Boxers are alive because of competitions. Not only international, but national events are also not in the pipeline and this is a really complex situation for us,” said the boxer who was part of Pakistan’s squad that featured in the Olympic qualifiers in Baku.

“Nobody is sincere with boxing. The current PBF setup does not know the sport. The members of the previous setup knew the game but they were not sincere with the boxers. We want such a person who can support the budding boxers,” the boxer pointed out.

If there were no international commitments or the PBF was unable to send its teams abroad then at least it should have focused on domestic grooming of the available lot, the player said.

“Boxers serving various departments are still in practice but what those boxers would do who are associated with their respective provinces. The barren patch would made them rusty,” the boxer questioned.

The uncertain situation of the PBF has put the future of boxers at high risk. The PBF elections are ahead but the legal controversies are abound which may obstruct the electoral process. Three groups have already emerged who want to field their candidates in the elections. The previous elections of the PBF held in 2012 in Lahore were also controversial but ultimately the so-called elected setup in those elections had been recognised by world boxing governing body (AIBA).

In the reign of former AIBA and PBF chief Professor Anwar Chowdhry, Pakistan had been producing good boxers and the country had a say in international circuit, particularly in Asia. However, after the boxing affairs came on the shoulders of Doda Bhutto in 2008, the decline of the sport began. And now the situation has reached to a point in which the selectors had no boxer in the 64 kilogramme when they were finalising the squad for the world qualifying round for Rio Olympics.

In provinces, the flux of local competitions has decreased. When AIBA stresses on launching professional league, there is no one in the PBF top hierarchy who could take an initiative to start pro boxing which could help the national boxers in the long run.

“I think it’s time to start professional boxing in Pakistan,” the boxer said.

Pakistan last featured in 2004 Athens Olympics and since then the country has been struggling to return to the Olympic fold.