PESHAWAR: Pakistan’s Sajjad Hazara and Yamin Khan knocked out Afghanistan’s Haseen Ullah, and Haroon Khan respectively in their title fights of the UW (Usman Wazir) International Professional Boxing competitions, which played here at Lala Aman Boxing Arena on Tuesday.
Twenty boxers from Pakistan and Afghanistan took part in the competitions. Pakistan’s top boxer Sajjad Hazar handed an upsetting defeat to Afghanistan top boxer Haseen Ullah on points in the four round fought at a rattling pace with both the pugilists having showered punches on each other.
Sajjad Hazara of Pakistan had a good one and two combinations succeeded in putting Afghanistan’s boxer Haseen Ullah on the back foot. It was a four round bout but Sajjad Hazara made it to the third round when he knocked out his rival Haseen Ullah in the third round and thus the referee stopped the fight looking after injured Haseen Ullah.
Haseen Ullah of Afghanistan also received injuries and was knocked-out in the third round with referee Sibghatullah stopping the fight in the third round. Besides Haseen Ullah, Haroon Khan in the Super Welter and Hamid Khan in Light Weight are taking part.
The fights would continue till mid-night with a total nine fights being played between all the 18 boxers of Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is worth mentioning here that the Directorate of Sports KP is organizing the International Professional Boxing Competitions with UW (Usman Wazir), the Asian gold medallist.
In the other fights Saif Ali But (Pak) beat Shoaib (Pak) in Feather weight, Muhammad Saqib beat Amjid Rasool in Minimum weight on points, Adil Saeed (Pak) beat Sardar Nouman (Pak) on points, Zahoor Abbas (Pak) knocked out Wahid Bakhsh Sangi (Pak) in 3rd round. In the title fight Yamin Khan (Pak) knocked out Haroon Khan of Afghanistan in the third round of Super Welter 6 round bout.
The title fight between Pakistan and Afghanistan boxers was aimed at enhancing sports ties between the two countries, said Afghan boxer Abdul Hameed while talking to reporter. It is very gratifying that they are being given competitions at the international level which will provide an opportunity to learn not only Pakistan but also Afghan boxers, he said, adding that participation in international professional boxing was a matter of honour.
He said that on one hand, these activities will strengthen the ties of sports between Afghanistan and Pakistan while on the other hand, an atmosphere of brotherhood will be established.
He said the sports activities would help to keep the youngsters away from other negative activities. He thanked the Chief Minister of KP for providing opportunities for healthy activities to the youth of Pakistan as well as the youth of Afghanistan. He said that Pakistan has taken care of the people living in Afghanistan at all levels and the war-torn youth have now been involved in healthy activities hosting by Pakistan.
He said that the government of Afghanistan has also paid special attention to the participation of youth in healthy activities so that the youth in Afghanistan would be kept away from drug and other negative activities.
International Pro Boxer Usman Wazir said that like KP, other provinces of Pakistan also come forward. He also thanked Chief Minister KP, DG Sports Asfandyar Khattak, DSO Tehseen Ullah and Administrator Jaffar Shah for their support during the event.
Earlier, the five member team including three boxers, a coach Sajjad Khan and manager was warmly welcomed at the Pak-Afghan border Torkham. On this occasion DG Sports Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, players and officials welcome the Afghanistan Boxing Team.
DG Sports KP Asfandyar Khattak said that all possible facilities are being provided to all the players during the event. He said that apart from boxing, he also intends to hold bilateral competitions in which other games between Pakistan and Afghanistan would also be organized. He said, on one hand, an atmosphere of brotherhood will be established, while on the other hand, the game will be promoted.