‘Boxers should be given regular jobs’

KARACHI: Olympian boxer Asghar Ali Changezi on Tuesday urged departments to offer regular jobs to the country’s boxers.

“It’s very important for our boxers to have jobs. Contractual job is not the solution. Fighters need permanent jobs so that they could focus on their boxing,” Asghar told ‘The News’ in an interview from his hometown Quetta.

Asghar has been a terrific boxer, having represented Pakistan in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. He won gold medal in light heavyweight at 1992 Bangkok Asian Championships to make it to the Barcelona Olympics.

He has also to his credit three golds on the trot and a silver in the South Asian Games.

Asghar, who is a DSP in police now, said some departments keep fighters on contract basis which is not good. “Unless you completely relieve your boxers from all issues and give them financial security they will not be able to focus on their boxing. If you have permanent job after retirement from international circuit you can live a respectable life. If more departments come to own boxers the trend will attract more young fighters and they will adopt boxing,” he said.

Asghar is awfully busy in his job but he keeps himself abreast of what is going on in Pakistan’s boxing.

He said Pakistan have almost no chance to qualify for Olympics if proper planing was not made. “If the authorities did not plan on solid footings for the World Qualifying round for next year’s Olympics then I don’t think we can qualify,” he observed.

“Playing and training on home soil is not enough. Here you will not find tough opponents sparring with you. The best thing is to send boxers abroad, train them alongside tougher boxers and this can build a real fighting temperament,” Asghar said.

“Former PBF chief Professor Anwar Chowdhry was a great administrator and he was the only one who did a fine job for developing Pakistan boxing. He was a meticulous planner and he sent us to Cuba and China for training for our Olympics mission,” Asghar said.

He said Pakistan is brimming with talent. “Pakistan is full of talent. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Quetta and Lyari there is a massive nursery but there is need for a system to hunt and groom that. We have no system in place in Pakistan,” Asghar said.

He stressed the need for administering the PBF in a strong way. “A strong administrator is required to steer boxing out of the quagmire it is in. Untiring and sincere efforts are needed to rectify the things and put the sport on right footing,” Asghar said.

He said that Pakistan direly needs modern training. “The biggest issue is that we train our fighters on decades-old training patterns and this is why we lag far behind the rest of the world. I respect my senior coaches currently in charge but what we need is modern training. The world has changed, new techniques have come and boxing has become more scientific. We should realise,” Asghar stressed.

He said that Quetta has got good infrastructure during the last few years. “When we were playing there were no boxing facilities here at Quetta but now the city has got some good gyms and equipment because of the provincial government’s interest,” Asghar said.

About Quetta’s solid boxer Syed Mohammad Asif, Asghar said he needs exposure. “No doubt he is a gutsy fighter but he needs exposure. He should be sent abroad for training,” he said.