Syed Hussain Shah () (born August 14, 1964) is a retired

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

from

Lyari Lyari (Urdu: ; ; Balochi: لێاری) is a historic locality in Karachi, Pakistan. It is the most densely populated part of Karachi, and is one of its earliest settled areas. History Lyari is said to be one of the oldest inhabited parts of Kar ...

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

, who won the bronze medal in the Middleweight division (71–75 kg) at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. This was the country's first and only Olympic boxing medal to date.Pakistan's Shah Hussain reaches men's judo final
26 July 2014 Retrieved 26 July 2014 He was the second Pakistani to win an individual medal at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. The only other Pakistanis to ever win individual Olympic medals are the wrestler

Muhammad Bashir Mohammad Bashir () (10 March 1935, in Lahore – 24 June 2001, in Lahore) was a wrestler from Pakistan. His bronze medal in freestyle wrestling in the welterweight class (73 kg) at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome was Pakistan's first ind ...

, who won a bronze medal at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

, and

Arshad Nadeem Arshad Nadeem (Punjabi language, Punjabi / ; ; born 2 January 1997) is a Pakistanis, Pakistani javelin thrower. He is the reigning Athletics at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Men's javelin throw, Olympic, 2025 Asian Athletics Championships � ...

, who won gold medal in Javelin throw at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Early life

Shah was born in Lyari, Karachi. As a child Shah used to live on streets due to being homeless, he used to work as a labourer to earn money. Shah trained himself for boxing on the streets using garbage bags as a replacement for punching bags.

Career

Shah won his first gold medal at

1984 South Asian Games The 1984 South Asian Games (or 1st SAF Games) was the first edition of South Asian Games. It was held in Kathmandu, Nepal from 17 to 23 September 1984. The number of disciplines were restricted to five only. India topped the medal tally, winning ...

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

, along with Asghar Ali, Ilyas Ahmed and Muhammad Yousaf. At the 1987 edition of the Games in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

, he was adjudged the 'best boxer'. At the 1988 Summer Olympics he shared the podium with

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

Chris Sande Christopher Joseph Sande (born 10 February 1964) is a Kenyan former professional boxer. As an amateur, he won the bronze medal in the Middleweight division at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. He shared the podium with Pakistan's Hussain Sha ...

. He was Pakistan's first boxer to win any medal in olympic boxing. In 1989, the

born boxer received

Sitara-i-Imtiaz The Sitara-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Sitara-i-Imtiaz, is the third-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") honour and Civil decorations of Pakistan, civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes individuals who have made an "especially me ...

medal from

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, con ...

. Shah, who has also to his credit five gold in the South Asian Games history, remained the best boxer of Asia from 1980 to 1988, a rare prominence achieved by any Pakistani pugilist so far. He later moved to Japan, where his son Shah Hussain Shah learned judo and went on to represent Pakistan at the international level.

Popular culture

A biopic called ''

Shah Shāh (; ) is a royal title meaning "king" in the Persian language.Yarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII, no. 1 (1989) Though chiefly associated with the monarchs of Iran, it was also used to refer to the leaders of numerous Per ...

'' was released in Pakistan on 14 August 2015. The film chronicles Hussain Shah's poverty stricken childhood, his rise to fame as the Asian Boxing Champion and Olympic Bronze Medalist, his subsequent return to poverty and finally his migration to Japan to coach Japanese boxers. The movie is directed and written by

Adnan Sarwar Adnan Sarwar is a Pakistani actor, director, musician, screenwriter, producer, lyricist, doctor and racing driver. He made his film debut in the biopic ''Shah'', in which he also played the leading role. Career Music From 2002 onwards Adnan sta ...

with music by Adnan Sarwar and Farhan Albert.

Olympic results

1988 Seoul Summer Olympics

Men's Middleweight *1st round bye *Defeated

Martín Amarillas Martín Amarillas (born 20 December 1965) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 1995. As an amateur, he competed in the men's middleweight event at the 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officiall ...

3-2 *Defeated

Serge Kabongo Serge Kabongo (born 28 March 1966) is a Congolese former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 1996. As an amateur, he competed in the men's middleweight event at the 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the ...

5-0 *Defeated Zoltán Füzesy 3-2 *Lost to

Egerton Marcus Egerton Marcus (born February 2, 1965) is a Canadian former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2007. As an amateur, he won the silver medal in the middleweight division at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. Early life Egerton is the t ...

1-4

References

External links

Biography at Pakistan Sports Board
1964 births Living people Boxers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for Pakistan Olympic bronze medalists for Pakistan Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz Pakistani expatriates in Japan Sindhi people Olympic medalists in boxing Martial artists from Karachi Asian Games silver medalists in boxing Boxers at the 1986 Asian Games Pakistani male boxers Boxers at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Pakistan Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics People from Lyari Town Asian Games silver medalists for Pakistan Asian Games boxers for Pakistan Medalists at the 1986 Asian Games South Asian Games gold medalists for Pakistan South Asian Games medalists in boxing Middleweight boxers 20th-century Pakistani sportsmen {{Pakistan-Olympic-medalist-stub