Niamatullah begins Pak boxing quest for Rio Olympics today

KARACHI: Pakistan’s boxing squad will begin its quest for Rio Olympics when experienced boxer Niamatullah fights against Recaraballo Odriguez Carlos Jose of Portugal in the 56 kilogramme preliminaries of the world qualifying round in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Friday (today).

Niamat, the 2010 South Asian Games gold medallist, is considered the best fighter of the five-man boxing side which Pakistan has fielded.

As many as 469 boxers from 105 nations of the world will be competing for 39 Olympic berths on offer.

Ali Ahmed (60kg), Mohammad Asif (52kg), Tanvir Ahmad (75kg) and Awais Ali Khan (81kg) were given byes in their initial rounds.

This is the last opportunity for Pakistan to return to Olympic fold after a long gap of 12 years as the national pugilists last played in 2004 Athens Olympics.

Pakistan had to field seven boxers but US-born Umar Cheema (64kg) pulled out because of illness and Amir Khan (69kg) owing to a passport issue.

Amir’s ouster was a real blow to the country as he is an experienced player and coach Arshad Hussain had a lot of expectations from him.

The authorities have opted not to field boxers in light flyweight, heavyweight and super heavyweight categories because of minor qualifying chances.

Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) secretary Iqbal Hussain told ‘The News’ on Thursday that he was expecting a surprise from his players who trained in Islamabad for six weeks.

Pakistan missed the Asian and Oceania Qualifying round held in Qiana’n, China, in March and April this year because of financial problems.

As the top pugilists of the world have already qualified for Rio slots the Baku qualifiers serve as an opportunity for the remaining pugilists who failed to get through the 2015 World Championships in Doha and the subsequent continental qualifying rounds played at different venues of the world.

In Venezuela next month pros from around the world will compete for 26 Olympic seats.

AIBA, the world amateur boxing governing body, opened doors for professionals to compete in the Olympics at its extraordinary congress in Lausanne on June 1.

Pakistani pro boxer Mohammad Waseem has decided not to fight for Olympic seat in the next month’s qualifiers for pros because he has to fight for WBC world silver title against highly experienced Jether Oliva of the Philippines on July 17 in Singapore.