Waseem going to Madrid for week-long special training

KARACHI: Pakistan’s star professional boxer Mohammad Waseem will fly out of Glasgow for Madrid on Sunday to undergo a week-long special training.

“Yes, I am going to Madrid on Sunday for a week-long training. The weather there is a bit warm and our exercise will include running on hills besides some good sparring,” Waseem told ‘The News’ from Glasgow during a detailed chat on Tuesday.

He will be accompanied by three other boxers and two coaches. England’s Danny Vaughan is coaching Waseem at MTK Global’s Glasgow Centre. Waseem was scheduled to face John Chuwa of Tanzania on June 22 at the Emirates Arena of Glasgow but the fight was cancelled due to some irregularities in the transmission of the medical test to the British Boxing Board of Control that denied the Pakistani fighter a clearance. The Quetta-born fighter will pass through a medical test in a few days.

It is almost confirmed that he would fight on July 12 at a big event in Liverpool. “Yes, my medical test will be conducted in three days and I am hopeful that I will fight on July 12 in Liverpool at a major show,” the two-time former World Boxing Council (WBC) flyweight world silver champion said.

Waseem wants a few fights before opting for a world title shot. “There is no hurry. I want to play a few fights so that I could get my rankings improved and then I will go for a world title bout,” 2014 Incheon Asian Games bronze medallist said.

He revealed that his intention was to play WBC world silver title bout again this year. “It is hundred percent clear that this year I will fight for WBC world silver flyweight title which I have achieved twice already,” 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games silver medallist said.

He said that he was fully fit. “I am fully fit and ready for any major fight. But you know it’s a slow process and I am inching towards my goal,” the 31-year-old fighter said. “Currently I train for five hours a day. I also run 15 kilometres a day. I cover this distance in one hour and 15 minutes,” Waseem said.

He said that Glasgow was a perfect place for achieving top fitness level. “Here the weather is beautiful. It helps you achieve top fitness level. In Las Vegas and Panama the weather mostly remains hot. When I was training there it was always difficult to achieve top fitness. In Las Vegas and Panama I used to run 10km but here I run 15km and that too with great ease,” Waseem said.

“You know I sleep for 12 to 13 hours a day which is very important for a fighter. Our training is very tough. When you train you need to keep your sleep and diet tight. Here we have a nutritionist who takes care of our diet,” he said.

Waseem said that for the last ten years he had never touched a cold drink. “I am always very careful and never use cold drink which is not good for health,” the fighter said. After switching over to professional boxing in early 2015, Waseem shot to fame when he won the WBC flyweight world silver title by beating Jether Oliva of the Philippines in Korea in July 2016. He defended the title in November 2016 when he upstaged dangerous Giemel Magramo of the Philippines, also in Korea.

Waseem also remained WBC World No1 for some time. However, he lost rankings when he failed to play his title defence bout because of financial issues. Waseem has played nine bouts during his illustrious pro career, winning eight with six knock-outs. His only loss came last summer when he was outwitted by Moruti Mthalane of South Africa in the International Boxing Federation (IBF) world title bout in Kuala Lumpur.