Karachi, February 16: Pakistan boxer Muhammad Waseem has alleged that he was deprived of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fight for the World Boxing Council (WBC) flyweight title due to non-availability of sponsors.

Waseem broke the news himself in a video, saying, "I had a WBC flyweight world title shot, but that opportunity is lost now as I could not arrange the fee needed. He added, "I have also been stripped of my WBC silver flyweight title and demoted in the rankings. I was the number one contender but I am now fourth on the list."

In the video, Waseem can be seen saying that he was supposed to fight for gold in the World Boxing Council (WBC) but couldn't due to lack of funds and that it was his dream to bring WBC title to Pakistan which couldn't be fulfilled just because of lack of sponsors. He also added that his ranking had suffered due to him not getting to fight for the title because he couldn't he couldn't arrange for the fee.

 

The Quetta-born pugilist further informed that nobody sponsored or supported him to accomplish his dream of winning a WBC world title for Pakistan. Waseem has represented Pakistan at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India, where he won a bronze.

In 2016, he defeated Philippines' Jether Oliva to become first ever Pakistani in history to claim any championship belt at a major boxing sanctioning body, reports the Dawn.