was undefeated 22-year-old Giemel Magramo (17-0, 13 KOs). The fight went the 12 round distance. Judge Jun Bae Lim scored the bout wide 117-110 for Waseem and judges Jerrold Tomeldan and Noppharat Sricharoen scored the fight close 114-113 for Waseem, giving him a unanimous decision win. Magramo was deducted a point in round 6 for an accidental headbutt that caused a cut on Waseem. Had he not been deducted a point, the fight would have ended in a majority draw. After becoming the number 1 mandatory for the WBC flyweight title, Waseem traveled to Panama in June 2017 with trainer Jeff Mayweather, to fight native Eliecer Valdez in a 6-round non-title fight. The fight took place on 5 July. The card also included former world champion Luis Concepcion. Waseem knocked out Valdez in round 2, registering his fourth knockout win of his professional career. Waseem fought for the second time in the space of a month on 29 July at the Gimnasio Municipal in Puerto Armuelles, Panama and knocked out Ivan Trejos (7-7-2, 1 KO) in the third round of a scheduled 8 round fight. Waseem next fought on 30 September, once again in Panama against Jose Luis Calvo (3-8-3). The fight ended in round 1 with Waseem being victorious, retaining his number 1 position in the WBC rankings. According to his manager Andy Kim, Waseem would possibly take on WBC champion Daigo Higa in a mandatory title fight, likely in Japan in January 2018. World title challenge On 9 April 2018, The Ring Magazine reported that Waseem would fight former IBF world champion Moruti Mthalane (35-2, 24 KOs) on the Manny Pacquiao vs. Lucas Mattyhsse undercard on 15 July in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the vacant IBF flyweight title. Mthalane was the IBF king from 2009 to 2014, recording stoppage wins over Zolani Tete and Johnriel Casimero. The fight was originally scheduled to be an eliminator, until Donnie Nietes (41-1-4, 23 KOs) vacated on 11 April in order to make a full move to super flyweight. Speaking about the last year, Waseem said, "It has been a roller-coaster ride. I had troubles even after getting Pakistan the first WBC title, but I didn’t give up. And now this is my big chance, if it’s not the WBC title then it will be the IBF title." Waseem would become the first Pakistani boxer to challenge for an IBF world title.