“I want to make boxing bigger than cricket in Pakistan,” says boxer Usman Wazeer, who has great ambitions.

On paper, he has an impressive record of 17-0. He boasts himself to be the face of Pakistani boxing and claims that his fame, albeit on social media, is a source of jealousy for people who want to bring him down; however, his record shows that he has been fighting mostly in Bangkok. He has admitted to paying for these bouts out of his own pocket.

Usman is a key figure in propagating a harmful trend in Pakistan, which is also looked down upon globally. It is simple: the boxers pay the promoters, in Usman’s case, a Filipino Brico Santig, and the promoters set the bout for them after taking money.

In a world where things should make sense, where boxers should get money to fight, Pakistani boxers are paying money to get the fights.
“I have sold my car just to compete in this bout of the OPBF silver title, we make a lot of sacrifices to get where we are, and then it breaks my heart and hurt my reputation when people say they are fake fight,” Wazeer had told The Express Tribune last month, He had claimed the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OBBF) silver super welterweight title in Bangkok in August.

Following heavy criticism, Wazeer aims to salvage his reputation, as he announced earlier this week that he will defend his OPBF title in Pakistan next month.

However, in the local media, his title has been promoted as the World Boxing Council (WBC) title, which is false. The OPBF is more of a regional body based in Japan.

It was also a title that had only ever been fought thrice, and most boxing experts have argued that such titles are usually made after boxers have paid for them.

OBPF is indeed affiliated with the WBC, but it is not a title that is directly affiliated.

Usman came under heavy criticism from the Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) and even Muhammad Waseem, who actually won the WBC silver title in 016 and then defended it successfully twice later.

In the boxing world, there are four major organisations that are recognised, namely the World Boxing Council, World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation, and the International Boxing Organisation.

So far, Muhammad Waseem remains the only Pakistani boxer who has the backing of the WBC, WBA, and IBF.

But Wazeer and other Pakistani boxers are foraying into professional boxing through a path that is both representing corruption in the sport locally and internationally.

When asked about paying for the bout, Wazeer elaborated last month that Pakistani boxers have to do a lot of work and find sponsors for themselves to first book the promoters, then pay for accommodations, and slot fees that can vary from US $3000 to $5000 at least, to get on the under-card, when they fight abroad.

On the other hand, in a regular boxing journey, which is not curated, a talented boxer usually gets signed by promoters and then receives money to fight, while his accommodation, travel, and fees are all arranged by the organisers. Or the organisers seek boxers to fight and pay them for their skills and grit in the ring.

A boxer must get paid to fight instead of the other way round.

However, this looks like an investment on the surface as Wazeer had appealed to the government to support him monetarily, and he got the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz (Medal of Excellence) from the government on the back of these bouts.

Record-wise, Wazeer’s career looks flimsy with weaker opponents that he has won the fights against, whilst, as pointed out by the PBF, the boxer from Astore has never competed at the national championship. And that stays true. He has competed at the events that are considered lower-level in terms of the quality of the competition because they are extremely localised and do not entirely showcase the best of the boxers in the country.

When asked, he sent his national record to The Express Tribune:

– HEC all Pakistan 2016 and 2017 championship ( gold medal )
– Punjab Games 2018 ( gold medal )
– Quaid-e-Azam Games 2016 ( bronze medal )
– Islamabad/Rawalpindi Championship 2015 and 2016 ( gold medal )
– Represented Pakistan in the international amateur youth boxing championship in Azerbaijan (2017)

Now, one can argue, as Wazeer does, that PBF should not be commenting on his ways, as it is an amateur body that is responsible for sending athletes to the Olympics and other games, among other amateur global events.

The history behind Wazeer’s international representation, too, was due to intervention from British-Pakistani boxer Amir Khan, who was looking for talent to groom through his Amir Khan Academy, a project that never really took flight.

Wazeer has also been known to be a former orbiter of Waseem, shadowing the latter in the Philippines during 2017-18.

In his explanation, as to why he takes the route of professional boxing without a properly signing with a promoter and not going through the way of proving himself on the amateur front and then moving to the professional side, the 27-year-old said that he was disappointed in the PBF and the favourtism at the national boxing circuit, and therefore he chose to not pursue that path.

“In reality, it is the PBF who fix fights and cheat,” he asserted. “I have seen the way boxers are treated in the camps. I chose to fight professionally, and I have a national record.”

But Wazeer’s national participation is indeed limited to lower levels of competitions, as the best amateur boxers in the country compete in the National Boxing Championship, whereas the most talented pugilists are signed by departmental sides like the Army, Wapda, Navy, Police, and even the Pakistan Air Force.

That is where the cream de la cream goes, since most boxers come from very humble backgrounds, unlike Wazeer, who said that he comes from a bureaucratic family.

The typical route for Pakistani boxers, including Shah Hussain, who remains the only Olympic medal winner for Pakistan in boxing, had turned pro after the Seoul Games in 1988.

Most boxers choose amateur boxing because if they are talented, they do get chosen to represent Pakistan, and later have the choice to turn pro.

Of course, this is not the only way to turn pro, as many famous boxers have not competed in amateur bouts because they were signed by promoters who could help to further cultivate their skills and talent.

Wazeer, though, is not known on the national circuit to be a great fighter either. Many believe that the local amateurs have been able to fight better than him.

The trend that Wazeer is propagating is that the boxers never prove their worth on the national circuit, then book promoters abroad who fix their bout for money, and ultimately, those bouts are a business transaction that guarantees wins for the boxers who are paying the money for the fight.

Wazeer’s 17-0 record was made through such fights.

After these wins, he comes back to seek government support, which can be going to the boxers who really deserve that support, and that is where the PBF concerns, that is, the government money is to be spent on boxing, then it should promote legitimate talent, instead of the people who are taking a route that is dubious and unfair and something that can be decietful. This is not to say that boxing as a sport internationally on the whole, is not suffering from an image problem.

Wazeer also does not like the idea of signing with promotion companies and fears that they can scam him, but the reality is, he is participating in a practice that is also scamming the fans.

“It is the business side of boxing, and of course, the insiders do not want the fans or the media to know about it,” Former World Champion Floyd Mayweather’s uncle and renowned boxing trainer, Jeff Mayweather, told this correspondent.
“It is like getting promoters for hire. The wins in these bouts are guaranteed to those who pay.
“It is a side of boxing that no one wants to show, and people who engage in this obviously think that they are not doing anything. To them, they are not doing anything wrong…it is just business. The fans only know what your record is. You pay to get that.

He is not the only one; a recent example is Sameer Khan, getting a bantamweight title in Bangkok last month from Universal Boxing Organization, which is not considered a recognised body.

The hidden side of boxing

“But you pay to get a win, you pay to get a win, we also have boxers who go down to Colombia and come back with an undefeated streak like 6-0. Boxers do this to build their record and reputation.
“This doesn’t mean they can’t fight, but it is a guaranteed win,” Mayweather, who has spent his life in professional boxing and knows the ins and outs of the sport.
He further explained that this trend will stay in international boxing, and many go this route and take fights in Colombia, Mexico, Bangkok, among other places, where it is easy to arrange these bouts.

Like Mayweather, a Japanese seasoned promoter, who wished to stay anonymous, also added that in his 40 years in the boxing business, he has not encouraged or set up fights where he had taken money from the boxers, instead of paying them.

Similarly, when The Express Tribune asked Waseem, as he is the top professional boxer from the country to have even fought for the world title, if he had paid his promoters for fights, he replied negatively.
“The truth is I have only earned through my bouts, I had a troubled time with one of my promoters, but that too happened because it was always my promoters ptting money on me, and taking care of my expenses, so obviously, they would want a return through that investment, but I have never paid for a bout, I don’t think any top boxer has paid for bouts like this,” explained Waseem.

When Wazeer was asked about that, every fighter pays, and he tried to give an example of the Pakistan cricket team.

“This is a targeted campaign for me. If you look at the Pakistan cricket team, when they play against Afghanistan or Bangladesh, that too is guaranteed to win; it only seldom happens that Pakistan loses; that too is guaranteed, and the pitches are curated,” said Wazeer. “You think the other boxers here didn’t have weaker opponents they fought against?”

Wazeer was pointing his grievance towards Waseem, and also indirectly called Waseem’s WBA Gold title a made accolade too; however, the world’s leading boxing organisations recognise Waseem, and he had been featured on their rankings regularly.

He had also called out Pakistani journalists for not being knowledgeable enough about the sport of boxing.

He also ended up saying that foreign promoters do not sign Pakistani or Indian boxers and only a few lucky ones can get a good deal.

“If the promoters do not sign us, does that mean we should stop boxing and sit at home?” said Wazeer, while missing the point that mostly top promoters in the world hire boxers that they deem can win the fights, instead of boxers hiring the promoters to fix fights for them that they can win.