Boxing camp to be closed on 30th

KARACHI: Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) on Thursday decided to close the national camp from June 30.
“The weather has now started improving but as tickets had been purchased owing to the heat wave, we have decided to close it from June 30,” PBF secretary Iqbal Hussain told ‘The News’.
He was quick to add that the camp would immediately resume after Eid-ul-Fitr. “We don’t have much time before the Asian Championship. We want the boxers to assemble soon for training after Ramadan,” he said.
He said that coaches had almost finalised the list of boxers for the Asian Championship following the ranking tournament at PSB Coaching Centre Karachi a few days ago.
“The squad will be finalised very soon. We plan to pick the best of the boxers in 49 kg and 56 kg. We have two good fighters in 49 kg in Mohib Bacha and Hamza and in 56kg we have Ali Ahmed and Nadir Baloch. They will fight amongst themselves and the best two in these two weights will be picked for the Asian Championship,” Iqbal said.
“If there are others who want to compete in these weights they will also be tested. We have advised the boxers in these weights to show their availability in the camp in a couple of days so that they could be tested before the camp is wrapped up,” Iqbal said.
PBF plans to send four boxers and a coach to England for training.
As many as 36 boxers are training here at PSB Coaching Centre under the supervision of three coaches.
The scorching heat during last few days forced the boxers to shift from their hostel rooms to the dining hall of the PSB Coaching Centre. It was then that the management decided to stop the camp for a few days.
Pakistan are expected to field ten boxers in the Asian Championship which will begin in Thailand in the last week of August.
The continental event serves as the qualifiers for the World Championship to be held in Doha in October. The World Championship serves as qualifiers for the 2016 Rio Olympics.