Sultan Mahmood was born on 15th May 1934 in Faisalabad to Muhammad Afsar Khan. He got his early education from his village school and passed middle. Later he went to Pakistan Army and joined the 19-Punjab Regiment as Soldier on 15th May 1952. At a very early age in his life, he began receiving training as a boxer, a sport that he was fond of since childhood. It took the young athlete no more than a few years to take part in national championships and soon turned into a name to be reckoned with. He started winning bouts at the lower level and then graduated to the professional stage and became the national champion. In 1958, he participated in the National Boxing Championship, where he got his first Gold medal in the middleweight class when he knocked out Asif Shafi and from then on he never looked back.
SULTAN MAHMOOD
Born on 15th May 1934
Pakistani Boxer
In 1960, he participated in the Rome Olympics, but could not perform well and did not proceed into the finals because of losing matches at the preliminary stages. So he came back without any medal, however, he made his mark as an Olympian.
In 1958, he again accompanied the Pakistan Boxing team to Tokyo (Japan) to participate in the Asian Games. He reached the final of the 81 Kg category, where he lost to Shuichi Nakayama of Japan on points and got a Silver medal. This was quite an extraordinary achievement that on his maiden International Tournament he won a medal.
In 1961, he went to Ceylon with the Pakistan team to play in the Ceylon National Boxing Championship.
The Pakistan boxers completely dominated in this championship-winning six out of eight titles. He also won the Gold medal in the 81 Kg category. Pakistan almost made a clean sweep in the first International contest against Ceylon at the Open Air Ring Stadium, Colombo, losing only in two classes. Pakistan also won the Hilaly Challenge Cup for winning the most titles. Back home, he played in the National Boxing Championship held at Railway Stadium, Lahore and won the Gold medal after technically knocking out Wali Muhammad in the middleweight category.
In 1962, he toured with the Pakistan team to Rangoon (Burma) to play two test match series. The Burmese boxers did not put up any serious opposition against the Pakistani boxers and lost the series with scores of 2-5 and 1-6. He also won a Gold medal in his middleweight class. Then he participated in the Asian Games held in Jakarta (Indonesia). He lost his quarter-final match in the 71 Kg category against Korean boxer Shing Yang-II despite he put up a strong fight and returning without any medal. However, in the National boxing Championship held in Karachi the same year, he knocked out Muhammad Hanif Butt in the middleweight category to get a Gold medal. During the Commonwealth Games held in Perth (Australia). He again lost his quarter-final match against Jamaican Cephas Colquhoun on Points.
In 1963, the First ever Asian Boxing Championship was held in Bangkok (Thailand). He won the Gold medal by a technical knockout when Iran’s Tariverdi, a giant of a man in his early 40s was mercilessly mowed down by his solid punches to the head and body. During the Tokyo Olympics in Japan, he was eliminated in his first fight against Valeriy Popenchenko of the USSR.
In 1964, he toured Ceylon with the Pakistan Boxing team. Pakistan and Ceylon shared four bouts. He won the Gold medal against a Ceylonese opponent, and Pakistan won the Hilaly Challenge Cup for the second consecutive year. Back home, he played in the National Boxing Championship held at Dacca and also got a Gold medal in the middleweight class when he knocked out Khalid Shuja in the middleweight class.
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In 1966, he played in the CISM tournament held at Triest (Italy), where he lost the semi-final and got the Bronze medal. After that, he proceeded to Bangkok (Thailand) to participate in the Asian Games, where he was eliminated in the preliminary round match against Chaiyoot Thuito of Thailand in the 75 Kg category.
In 1967, he went to Colombo (Ceylon) to participate in the Asian Boxing Championship, where he got the Gold medal after beating Mirbacian of Iran in the 75 kg class. This also proved to be the last event of his International Boxing career.
After his retirement from boxing, he switched towards coaching and served Pakistan Army and Pakistan National boxing teams from 1974 to 1981.
On 23rd December 1980, he retired from Pakistan Army with the rank of Hon Captain.
