Aiming to be world champion, Waseem set to fly to UK

KARACHI: Pakistan's professional boxer Mohammad Waseem has got England visa and is set to fly out of Pakistan to train under the wings of MTK Global. "I have got visa. Most probably I will be in England by Monday to begin my stint with MTK Global," excited Waseem told 'The News' on Thursday.

The former two-time World Boxing Council (WBC) world silver flyweight champion signed a deal with the England-based company in January after the end of his contract with the Korea-based AK Promotions, under whose patronage the Pakistani fighter won two WBC world silver titles. The Quetta-born 31-year-old is optimistic about his new stint. "It's a major group and it has the assistance of five world's best coaches. It has told me to pick from the list of coaches and if I am not satisfied with any one then I will have the option of choosing any one in the world," the fighter said.

He said that this year he would try his best to challenge the world champion in his class. "I plan to fight a bout before Ramadan for improving my ranking. After Ramadan I will play another fight and then will opt for throwing a challenge for the world title," the boxer said.

He said that he would need 40 days to get into top shape. "I will need a 40-day training for getting into top shape. Currently I am just training one time in a day. In England weather is always good and it is the best place to train perfectly for any major cause," Waseem said.

He said his only dream was to become the world champion. "I have grabbed two world silver titles but it is my dream to become the world champion, not in one weight category but in several," said Waseem, who remained world No1 after strongly defending his world silver flyweight title.

He has not played boxing for the last eight months. He played his last world title bout against South Africa's Moruti Mthalane which the latter won after a 12-round battle in Kuala Lumpur last July.

Waseem's current WBC ranking is 11th and his International Boxing Federation (IBF) ranking is 12th. Waseem has signed a three-year deal with MTK Global. Soon after signing Waseem in January, Mike Altamura of MTK Global said that it was a pleasure to sign a multi-year pact with the Pakistani boxing star. "Waseem is a serious talent, and I’m confident this union will see him fulfill his dream of becoming his country’s first ever world champion," Mike said.

Waseem has so far played nine bouts, winning eight with six knock-outs, losing to only Moruti Mthalane.

He turned pro in early 2015, having won bronze in the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. He clinched the WBC world sliver title in only his fourth bout and just months later defended that. However, most of his short pro career was dogged by financial issues that forced Waseem to stay out of the ring for quite some time.

But he feels that his new voyage would be more successful. "I hope it will be a good journey and I will achieve what I want, InshaAllah," the former two-time Commonwealth Games medallist said. Since he said goodbye to amateur circuit, not a single Pakistani fighter has been able to pull off any medal in international circuit.