Mehrullah wants coaching role to groom young boxers

KARACHI: Former Asian gold medallist boxer Mehrullah Lassi has said if he is given a chance to coach, he could prepare boxers to win medals in the Asian Games and other major international events.

“I am very confident that I will deliver if I am given a coaching role,” Mehrullah told ‘The News’ in an interview here on Sunday. “There is a lot of talent in Pakistan, particularly in my own area Lyari where kids aged 12 to 13 years are technically very good,” said Mehrullah, who retired in 2008. He won gold medal in the 2002 Busan Asian Games. He received Rs5million for his superb show from the then President Gen Pervez Musharraf.

Mehrullah is serving in Grade-12 at the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) as traffic supervisor.

He desires to do some coaching courses with the support of Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF).

“I don’t need any coaching diploma as I have trained in 20 to 25 countries, but if coaching courses are required then I am ready to do that,” said Mehrullah, who also has to his credit a gold medal in the 2004 South Asian Games.

He also won gold in the 2006 South Asian Games in Colombo along with Faisal Karim, but the duo failed dope test which not only deprived them of their medals but they also served a two-year suspension.

Mehrullah made a comeback but by then he had lost his sting.

He criticised the coaching standard of Pakistani coaches. “Our coaches have fallen prey to likes and dislikes. I see such people coaching who used to flee from training sessions when they were playing,” he said.

He said the main reason behind the downfall of boxing in Pakistan was that departments did not own boxers. “When Professor Anwar Chowdhry was the PBF chief he would convince departments to own boxers. I had started boxing in 1990s. At that time KMC, Sindh Government Press, K-Electric and KPT had teams and even juniors. But they have disbanded their teams and only the armed forces and WAPDA employ boxers. If boxers don’t get job opportunities how will they play?” Mehrullah said.

He said that there was no charm for boxers in Pakistan. “If you are to promote boxers you need to create attraction in the sport. We see Olympians doing odd jobs.  When the new generation sees them in such condition, they can’t be expected to choose boxing as a career,” added Mehrullah, who was part of Pakistan’s five-member squad that featured in the 2004 Athens Olympics. That was the last time Pakistan’s boxers featured in Olympics.

“We have seen for the last few years that the boxers are not properly treated. They need foreign tours, financial benefits and standard coaching. If you ignore even a single area you will fail,” Mehrullah claimed.

He said Chowdhry was a good administrator. “Chowdhry had not been a boxer himself. He was a professor. But he knew how things could be improved. He would work hard, take care of boxers and Pakistan’s standard in boxing in his time was very high,” the boxer added.

He said amateur boxing was much tougher. “It’s very tough; you need hard training; as you get only three rounds which are very fast unlike professional boxing where you get 12 rounds,” he remarked.