t can be the year of Pakistan's prolific professional boxer Mohammad Waseem. The three-time WBC world flyweight silver champion and current WBA No1 is set to face England's Sunny Edwards on March 19 at the Duty Free Tennis Stadium in Dubai in the IBF flyweight world title fight.

This will be the second time that the 26-year-old Edwards will defend the crown. In April 2021, he defeated Moruthi Mthalane of South Africa to win the title before defending it last December when he prevailed over the mandatory challenger Jason Mama. Edwards has a superb record, having played 17 bouts, sweeping them all with four knock-outs.

Waseem, on the other hand, has played 13 bouts, winning 12 with eight knock-outs. He just lost to Mthalane in a controversial way in the world title shot in 2018 in Kuala Lumpur.

Waseem last played in November last year when he defeated Rober Barrera of Colombia in Dubai to regain his WBC world silver title. This helped Waseem rise to No1 in the WBA rankings.

Waseem, a former WBC No1, these days is busy training in Dubai. It will be a real test for the Quetta-born boxer who is senior to his opponent Edwards. Waseem, who rose to fame in the professional circuit when he won his WBC world silver title in only his fourth fight, has done homework in Dubai with sparring partners from England and was expecting three more partners from Kazakhstan.

During a recent interview with me, he was very confident and said that he would defeat Edwards.

Waseem said that his body is properly responding to training and hopefully he will be in the best shape before what could be the toughest fight of his career.

Waseem is highly skilled. He turned pro after serving Pakistan in the amateur circuit for over a decade. He is working on his plans and it is expected that he will achieve glory for Pakistan. If he beats Edwards then he will become the first Pakistani boxer to win the coveted title.

Waseem will try to knock-out Edwards. During his recent talk with me he showed his desire to go for a knockout victory against Edwards. During all his 13 fights, we found Waseem a confident boxer. Although he lost to Mthalane in the world title shot in 2018 in Malaysia, it was a fight dominated by Waseem but the end results went in favour of the South African.

What I see is that the Quetta-born fighter will be able to topple Edwards. Waseem is also working on creating something different and that mysterious trick will be used against Edwards.

Waseem has decided to do his training only in Dubai and according to him it will be helpful as he has all training facilities at his disposal and will be able to prepare well for the world title shot.

He is doing unusual training and is completely focused. After winning a few major medals for Pakistan in amateur circuit, Waseem joined the pro circuit reluctantly but when he entered the circuit he focused on his training and in a few months he showed to the world that he had a very bright future ahead in the field.

Waseem plays under MTK Global and promotions Probellum who provide everything to the Pakistani fighter. When Waseem was going to switch over to the professional circuit a few years ago a senior official of the then Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) declared him as a spent force. When he entered the field, his Korean promoter told me that his career will begin now. And he was right. Later when he was training in the US, his US coach told me that when Waseem boxes the whole gym stops to see him. The US is a huge boxing centre and Waseem was very popular there.

What a boxer needs is proper facilities for growth. Of them, diet is very important which keeps a fighter evergreen. Waseem now has at his disposal everything he needs. He has the sting. He is a very attacking fighter with strong defence. It is not easy for the rivals to break his defence.

Waseem is a model for our young boxers. We expect youngsters in large numbers to follow in his footsteps and switch over to professional boxing. And Pakistan should support them as they are earning a name for the country. We have seen during the last few years that Waseem was rarely backed at the state level. Even after he won his fight against Barrera last November, he was not welcomed properly in Balochistan, his own province. And the fighter was not happy.

So far we have seen that he has been mainly backed by Pakistan's military. When Waseem faces Edwards in the world title fight I hope the whole nation will witness it like it used to witness Amir Khan's fight. And if he wins then he will deserve a hero's welcome.

Hope things go well. We all should pray for Waseem who has brought Pakistan to the top of the world's professional boxing.

73.alam@gmail.com