PESHAWAR:Pakistan’s top boxer Kamran Abdul Wahab’s stunning rapid punches knocked out Afghanistan’s No 1 pugilist Hamid Khan in a surprising second round of 8-Round Light Weight title fight in UW (Usman Wazir) International Professional Boxing competitions played here at Lala Aman Boxing Arena on Wednesday.
Special Assistant to Chief Minister KP for Information and Higher Education Kamran Bangash was the chief guest on this occasion who gave away cash prizes to the position holders.
The contests were also witnessed by a large number of spectators. The fight status of Eight Rounds, squeezed to just Two Rounds when Kamran Abdul Wahab showered his hammered like punches and knocked out his rival Hamid Khan.
“I worked hard for the fight and that is why I won against my strong rival who is Afghanistan’s No. 1,” said Kamran while talking to media. Hailing from Peshawar, Kamran got a slow start in the first round but then showered repeated punches in the second round which could not be sustained Hamid Khan.
Kamran has good footwork, having command over his one and two combination of punches with right and left hands that steered him to victory against super-fit Hamid Khan. Hamid did some resistance in the first round and was leading by points but in the second round Kamran totally changed the match in his favour.
It is worth mentioning here that all three top Afghan boxers Haseen Ullah, Haroon Khan and Hamid Khan lost to Pakistani boxers Sajjad Hazara, Yamin Khan and Kamran Abdul Wahab in the knocked out Feather, Super Welter and Light Weight battles respectively.
Special Assistant to Chief Minister KP for Information and Higher Education while talking to media said that it is important that after a long break due to COVID-19 sports activities started again and specially the international boxing came to Peshawar.
The final of the game was being played between Pakistani boxer Kamran Abdul Wahab and Afghan boxer Hamid, which produced great thrill, Kamran Bangash added. The Pakistani boxer performed brilliantly and knocked out the Afghan boxer in the second round, which was a clear indication that we have a lot of talent in boxing and certainly such an event would give more boost to the overall exciting talent in KP in particular and in Pakistan in general, Kamran said.
He, on behalf of the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, announced Rs. 100,000 for the winner Pakistani boxer Kamran while Rs. 50,000 for the Afghan boxer Hamid Khan.
He said, the provincial govt will soon restore international cricketing activities and other Games in Peshawar. The provincial government is building playgrounds at the Tehsil level wherein a grant of Rs. 3000 million has been allocated in the light of the vision of Prime Minister.
The provincial government is giving stipends to 1,250 players who won medals in U21 Games and any of the National Junior and National Senior Championship that is why players are coming up and doing their hard work, Kamran said.
“I’m very happy to see the boxing competition in Peshawar and congratulations to all Pakistani boxers including Kamran Wahab, Yasin Khan Sajjad Hazara for recording victories against Afghan boxers,” Kamran Bangash added.
He thanked the government of Afghanistan and Afghan players for coming to Peshawar and participating in the competitions. “We will also support the Afghan players, there should be more such competitions between the two countries,” he added.
“We value all sports equally,” he said, adding, such competitions would be organized in other games including cricket, hockey, tennis, squash, boxing,” Kamran Bangash said. He also lauded the efforts of Usman Wazir and the Sports Department for organizing the competition in Peshawar.