Pakistani boxer Waseem makes triumphant return after more than two years

Pakistan’s star professional boxer and former WBC world No.1 Mohammad Waseem returned to international circuit in style after two and a half years.

He late last night pulled off the 13th win of his career when he knocked out Jana Memisishi of Georgia in the bantamweight ranking fight at the Inter-Continental Hotel in Malta.

Waseem wrapped-up the victory in the third round through a splendid body shot.

“Yes, it went extremely well,” Waseem told Nukta after his fine win.

“I was confident to win it. In the second round, too, I had a chance but the thing was repeated in the third round and it yielded result,” said Waseem, who is also a three-time WBC world sliver flyweight champion.

This was the ninth knockout win of Waseem’s career in which he has played 15 fights, winning 13 and lost just two and that also the world title shots against South Africa’s Moruti Mthalane and England’s Sunny Edwards.

Waseem last played his fight way back in March 2022 when he was defeated by Sunny Edwards of England in the IBF world title fight at the Dubai Tennis Centre.

It was a fight which was seemingly won by Waseem but the outcome in favur of Edwards had raised eyebrows as it was the Pakistani fighter who had dominated mostly in front of the jam-packed venue.

Waseem was originally scheduled to return to international circuit after a long layoff on October 4 against Sabelo Cebekhulu of South Africa in the WBF bantamweight world title shot but the fight was postponed due to Waseem’s visa issues.

Waseem was extremely short of training even for this ranking fight against the Georgia’s fighter. He did not do sparring during his five-day stay in Liverpool where his coach Danny Vaughn was also absent as he was nursing his ailing mother.

And hardly he had got a sigh of relief following his arrival in Malta when he had to play against the Georgian. But he handled it well.

The issue was that when Waseem’s fight against Sabelo was announced he applied for Schengen visa via Denmark embassy after a hard labor as it was extremely difficult to get the appointment but he did not get that. He again applied through the Italy Consulate but the visa got delayed. His coach Danny and Waseem negotiated that it would not be appropriate to go for it without training and at a time when he would return to international circuit after two years. Eventually Waseem got visa at a time when the fight was just a few days away. However, it was rightly and timely postponed latter that provided a sigh of relief to Waseem who will not want to lose any more in the world title shot.

As Vaughn Promotion also has a gym in Liverpool so Waseem is lucky and he may get training for future fights in that small and beautiful city of England with the scenic environment due to its proximity with the beautiful Wales located at the Irish channel.

Following a decade-long amateur career Waseem turned pro in 2015, months after winning a bronze in the Incheon Asian Games. He went on to win the WBC world title shot in only his fourth fight. He then went on to defend it once before reclaiming it again under Korea’s AK Promotions.

He also remained WBC No.1 for sometime because of his superb progression as an athlete under AK Promotions. However, covid and latter visa issues handed him huge damage. His miseries were augmented even after his previous promotions MTK Global ceased operations. He then joined Dubai-based Disrupt Promotions but his association with that too also failed to last long as this promotion could not give him any fight.

This left Waseem in wilderness before Vaughan Promotions Malta this summer signed a one-year deal with the Falcon. It is highly expected that the Pakistani fighter will one day lift his first-ever world title which will be the maiden crown in the country’s professional boxing history.