- 178 pugilists from 18 teams vie for honours in week-long competition
All-Pakistan Amir Khan Boxing tournament featuring a record 178 boxers started at People’s Sports Complex’s Abdullah Baloch Boxing Gymnasium on Monday.
Director General Rangers Sindh Maj Gen Bilal Akbar formally inaugurated the event while boxing celebrity Amir Khan, according to officials, would arrive from London on December 18 to witness the finals.
In all, 18 teams, including two from Sindh, have assembled in Karachi for the tournament being organised by the Pakistan Rangers with the collaboration of Sindh Boxing Association (SBA) and Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF).
“The staging of the event is aimed at promoting a positive image of Lyari across the world,” Lt Col Zahid Hussain Shah, Commandant 92 Wing, Pakistan Rangers Sindh, told a news conference the other day.
He said boxers and footballers of Lyari had done the country proud winning medals at regional, world and Olympic levels in the past.
Amidst applause he disclosed that approximately 2,000 youth of the locality would be provided employment opportunities in the private sector and Sindh Rangers.
He further said that Sindh Rangers had taken over the administration of Lyari Polytechnique near Baghdadi Police Station and will start producing some 300 associate engineers annually.
He said that 180 pugilists from 18 teams would vie for honours in the week-long competition.
The weigh-in was held on Monday from 8:00 am to 10:00 am with as many as 22 bouts being held in the first round starting at 2:00 pm.
As per details, the pre-quarter-finals will be conducted on December 15 and 16, the quarter-finals on December 17 and 18, the semi-finals on December 19 and the finals on December 21.
The winner will earn Rs 20,000 while runner-up will receive Rs 15,000. Every participant will get Rs 5,000 as appearance money.
Recently, British-Pakistani boxer Amir Khan visited Pakistan and said that he is optimistic about the future of boxing in Pakistan and wants to establish a boxing academy with the collaboration of Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), to train young budding talent of the country.
