ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s star boxer Mohammad Waseem made the nation proud on Friday when he won his world-ranking fight knocking out Canrado Tanamor of the Philippines in the first round at Dubai’s Caesars.

According to the information received here, the 32-year-old Wasim took only 82 seconds to knock out the Filipino in the flyweight bout.

Waseem, who last year floored IBF flyweight champion Moruti Mthalane in a world title bout, but ended up as loser by a unanimous decision, was in action for the first time in 2019.

Waseem became a professional boxer in 2015 and won his very first professional fight -- giving him the vacant South Korea bantamweight title — when he knocked Min Wook Lee of South Korea down in the ninth round in October the same year.

Friday’s win was ninth professional victory for Wasim, who is also known as ‘Falcon’ due to his quick and swift style of boxing. He had been training in Scotland for the last six months.

“I am really happy to win this fight in first-round knockout. I had already announced that after winning the bout I’ll dedicate it to my Kashmiri brethren, so I’m dedicating this win to them,” the Quetta-born Waseem said in a video message after his triumph.

He expressed the determination to keep on working hard and bring more honours for the country in future. “I’ve been training really hard for this fight. I knew I’ll be a world champion soon. I’ll keep on performing in future also to make my nation proud,” Waseem added.

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2019