We lost a fine former boxer and 2006 Colombo South Asian Games gold medallist Dur Mohammad Baloch a few days ago. His death has saddened all who knew him as a boxer. He breathed his last while on duty in the African shores. He was serving in the Marine Security Services. There were a handful of other boxers with him on the ship including Nisar Sona, Abdul Razzaq and Shahid.

His funeral was held on the spot as the ship was around 200 miles away from the city in Africa.

The saddest thing was when his family was informed about his death, which occurred due to cardiac arrest. His uncles and relatives put their heads together to decide how his dead body can be brought to Pakistan. As his death had occurred on the ship around 200 miles away from the city in Somalia it was not easy to make any such effort. His family sources told me that they also contacted a few Ulema and they advised them not to do so. Dur Mohammad has left three kids and a widow. His elder son Muneeb-ur-Rehman is just 11 years old. And then come his daughter Umayya and a two-year-old son. Dur, who was just 40, represented both Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and Navy.

He had retired from the Navy two years ago. On January 13 this year he had joined Marine Security Services and did not know that the unfortunate death was awaiting him, not in Pakistan but on the African shores while his boots on.

Family sources said that he remained in a coma for three days before saying goodbye to this mortal world. The incident has left his family shell-shocked. A wedding ceremony was in progress when his family received this shocking news.

Fateha was offered at his hometown Lyari. Dur Mohammad belongs to a boxing family of Lyari which has produced renowned boxers. His father Malang Baloch, who was an Olympian boxer, had also passed away last December.

Asghar Baloch, who is the secretary of Sindh Boxing Association, is his uncle.

“Dur’s passing away has saddened us a lot,” Asghar told ‘The News on Sunday’.

“He was our little son, very dear to us and he left us at a young age. I have no words to describe my emotions,” Asghar said.

“Asian Boxing Confederation (ASBC) also condoled his death and paid tribute to the South Asian Games gold medallist,” Asghar said.

“Dur started boxing in 1997 at the Lyari Boxing Club when he was just 11. He used to play in the welterweight division. He snared bronze in his debut national event in Kot Lakhpat. It was his beginning and he then went on to compete at various age-group national events and at the senior level and kept winning medals. He was also part of the 2006 Doha Asian Games Pakistan squad,” Asghar said.

“He was a fine boxer, with good skills and was valiant enough,” Asghar said. “He boxed at the top level from 2003 to 2016 and during which he won medals at all domestic levels and in the international circuit,” Asghar said.

It’s a difficult period for Dur’s family. The Sindh government, the federal government and the Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) should try to support his family as Dur rendered meritorious services for Pakistan.

Pakistan boxing team coach and former Olympian Arshad Hussain has also been saddened by his untimely death. “It’s hugely shocking as we lost a very good boxer who served the country. He was a good boxer and in his time he defeated even Army’s top-ranked boxers,” Arshad told TNS from Islamabad.

“I personally have been very depressed since receiving this news. His dead body should have been brought to Pakistan. Somalia is not too far away and the organisation to which he was attached should have done this. Where he is buried nobody knows. I think the authorities should have managed it as it could have consoled his family and friends to at least offer Fateha at his tomb,” Arshad said.

“There is a need for insurance for players. In foreign countries it is there but here we leave the world, and our children then suffer. Although the Navy will give pension to his widow, his family needs added support, especially from all those units which he served during his life. Pakistan’s government should also assist his family,” Arshad said.

I personally met him for the first time in Colombo in 2006 during the South Asian Games where he claimed gold. After that I remained in contact with him and I always found him to be a thorough gentleman.

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