Jan Mohammad Baloch

Jan Mohammad Baloch was a Pakistani boxer and coach who participated in the 1972 Summer Olympics and four Asian Games. He was born in Lyari, a poor neighbourhood of Karachi, in 1950. He started boxing at the age of 10 and joined the Muslim Azad Boxing Club in 1972. He won a gold medal in the National Championship in Lahore and remained the national champion in his category until he retired in 1979. He made his international debut in the 1970 British Commonwealth Games and represented Pakistan in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, where he lost in the first round. He also competed in the 1974 Asian Games in Tehran, where he won a bronze medal, the 1976 Quaid-e-Azam International Boxing tournament in Karachi, where he won a silver medal, the 1977 Asian Amateur Boxing Championships, and the 1978 Asian Games in Bangkok. He was the first Pakistani boxer to take part in four Asian Games. He later worked as a coach for the Pakistan national boxing team and was associated with the Pakistan Navy, railways and K-Electric. He was suffering from liver cancer and died in Karachi on 3 August 2012. He was buried in Mewa Shah Graveyard with a state funeral. He is remembered as a legend of Pakistan boxing and a role model for the youth of Lyari.