KARACHI (The Thursday Times) — Girl boxers in Karachi’s Lyari have their first portable boxing ring, a donation their coach says will let them train and compete in proper conditions in a neighbourhood that has produced boxers for generations but has few facilities for girls.
The ring was donated by Sehan Vital Fusion and unveiled at a girls’ boxing exhibition at TMC Bhutto Wala School on Juma Baloch Road in Agra Taj Colony, next to the Pak Shaheen Boxing Club.
Six bouts were held, in weight classes from 26kg to 50kg, between young boxers from clubs across Karachi. Residents, schoolchildren, and boxing fans turned out to watch.
The winners were Hafifa of the Shaheed Zahid Hussain Boxing Club, Nazmeen Sanghar of Pak Shaheen, Hoorian of the Farid Colony Boxing Club, Eman of the Sindh Muslim Boxing Club, Seema of the Faqeer Colony Boxing Club, and Manahil of BBSUL.
‘Grit and passion’
Younis Qambrani, a former national boxer who coaches at Pak Shaheen, said the ring would help the girls prepare for bigger competitions.
“The children of Lyari have the grit and passion to excel, but they need proper infrastructure and consistent encouragement to channel that energy,” he said. “A portable ring gives our young female boxers the exact environment they need to prepare for higher-level competition.”
Dr Naseem Shekhani, president of Sehan Vital Fusion, said the aim was to make sure children from poor families were not held back by a lack of basic facilities. “Lyari’s young girls have shown they are more than ready to claim that space,” he said.
Lyari, one of Karachi’s oldest neighbourhoods, is known across Pakistan for its boxing and football clubs, and girls have been boxing in its clubs for about a decade. Limited access to training facilities remains a challenge for many young boxers there, particularly girls.
