ISLAMABAD: Fatima Zahra, the first Pakistani female boxer to bag a medal for her country at the Commonwealth Games 2026 last month, recalled how she rose from humble beginnings and broke barriers to etch her name in history.
The 22-year-old boxer from the eastern city of Sargodha secured a bronze medal in the 60kg event when she defeated New Zealand’s Jordan Wilson 5-0 in the women’s 60kg quarterfinals. She eventually finished third after her semifinal defeat and bagged the bronze for Pakistan.
The achievement marked a breakthrough moment for women’s boxing in Pakistan, as no woman before her had won a medal for the country in the Commonwealth Games.
Speaking to Independent Urdu on Sunday, Zahra recalled how it felt when she won at the global competition.
“That was a very emotional and proud moment for me,” Zahra said. “At that time, I also started crying because I knew that before this, no woman had won a medal in any game. So, it was a moment when history was created,” she added.
But the path to international stardom wasn’t easy for Zahra.
Born to a “poor” family as she describes it, Zahra’s family always found it difficult to buy her boxing gear.
“I belong to a poor family, so when I first started, whenever I had to buy gloves, boxing shoes, bandages and so on, it would create a lot of tension in my home,” Zahra recalled.
But financial difficulties weren’t the only problems she encountered.
In conservative Pakistan, many women are deprived of making basic life choices and are beholden to their male relatives over choices around education, employment and who they can marry.
Zahra said her family made her stop boxing for a year-and-a-half because of negative comments they got to hear about her profession from relatives and people in general.
“People’s bad comments and negative comments from relatives disturbed my family a lot, and they did not allow me to box for one year and six months,” she said.
But things became different when Zahra started boxing at the senior level. Her family eventually started supporting her.
“And whenever I go on international tours, I remain in contact with my coach and he also motivates me a lot,” she said.
Zahra urged the government to tap into Pakistan’s boxing talent, particularly in the city she is from.
“There is a lot of talent in our boxing club in Sargodha,” she said. “The government should pay attention to this and there is a need to improve it.”
