A boxing series between arch-foes, Pakistan and India, could not but have been welcomed after the cricket, hockey, polo and snooker trials of strength in the days when relations between the two countries are getting warmer in the process of people-to-people contacts.
Sport is the best cementing force to better ties because the fans donot belong to the higher echelons of the society but to all layers of the population. And boxing, like football, is the game of the poor in Pakistan for Lyari, the slum area of Karachi, provides the majority of pugilists with the finest potentials in this manly recreation. With the barest possible infrastructure the fighters of all weights train themselves and go to foreign lands to strike gold, silver and bronze.
The boxing federation, despite the best efforts and repeated appeals of its supremo, the world-renowned Professor Anwar Chowdhry, is denied the needed funds by the government and sponsorship by the cartels of business tycoons. The boxers have shown their all-round talent in key international meets and have brought bagful of medals to the country, where the athletes, footballers, swimmers, spikers, hockey players and even wrestlers have proved cropper.
At the 1988 Olympiad in Seoul Syed Husain Shah of the Lyari area won laurels with a bronze with the minimum of facilities and encouragement by the authorities, though whatever training was possible was given to the boxing squad. This was the year when hockey was going down the slope and the high-ups of the game were scratching their heads to find a winning unit to cut out a striking performance.
An Indo-Pakistan boxing tussle had a huge turnout at the well-maintained Karachi Port Trust (KPT) Sports Complex. It was satisfying for the local fans that Pakistan, after the initial loss in the first match, put up a decent show to run away with the honours of the three-fight series in this country.
Pakistan were the odds-on favourites but Parvinder Singh, captain of the Indian trio, surprised this country's Nadir Khan. The latter was good enough to land tit-for-tat blows on Parvinder, a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, in the early stanzas but regretfully he appeared to have lost steam later and the Indian tamed him with a flurry of shots to the face and head.
Midway through the duel Parvinder had a slim lead of 8-7 but as the fisticuffs progressed the Indian piled up points to run out winner by 21-14.
Nadir is only 18 and comparatively less experienced than the Indian captain. He needs more tips and drills to become a vigorous mauler.
The Indian camp was upbeat after 1-0 advantage on the first day and Parvinder claimed his success as one of the most important wins of his career and thought that the next two boxers in his squad will be considerably encouraged by his show of strength and the offence and defence mode of his fighting style.
However, whatever, may have been the expectations of the Indians, Olympian Asghar Ali turned out to be a cagey boxer, especially in close-range shots. His Indian rival, Jai Bhagwan, had the capacity to absorb punches and go the full distance but did not have effective and hard blows of Asghar.
The points advantage of Asghar's 32-11 also showed the class difference between the two pugilists. Asghar as an Asian Games silver medallist in the lightweight category displayed the left-right combinations with quick movements in the ring that proved too much for Jai Bhagwan.
Nevertheless one found that the Indians are fast catching up the skill in global fiestas.
Asghar's victory levelled the scores as the Indian, Parvinder, had put the visitors ahead with a clear-cut win.
Mehrullah, Asian Games gold medallist in the featherweight class, gave little chance to India's Diwakar Prasad as he outpointed the latter by a whopping difference in scores of 30-15. His quick stepping to move for blows decided from the earliest gong that he would be a swift executioner in the ring.
The Indo-Pakistan series should be a regular feature and this country's contingent should prepare for an early return visit. This time the team should consist of all weights and tour not one or two cities but many venues of India.
Besides, the Pakistani fighters should regularly take on the lower-weight boxers of Thailand and Indonesia. More facilities and training should be provided to the talented youths of the Katchi Abadis of Karachi.
WAPDA and Army should not lag behind in adding their fighters to the national band.
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