Beni raises concerns

 FORMER professional boxer  and now referee Martin Beni has called on all the stakeholders of the sport to work together to assemble a competitive boxing team for 2015 Pacific Games in Port Moresby.

Beni (pictured) is concerned that there are not enough qualified ring officials and savvy people  to keep boxing on the right track. 

The former PNG welterweight contender said this after noticing that there were no technical officials controlling bouts at Socay Boxing Hall at Hohola.

He called on the NCD Boxing Association and the parent body, the PNG Amateur Boxing Union, to support clubs when they hold competition.

“We need more boxing competition be it provincial, national or regionally to stay competitive leading towards the 2015 Games,” he said.

PNGABU president John Avira was quick to clarify that the staging of regular competitions was the responsibility of local boxing associations and not the national body.

He said the individual boxing associations were tasked by constitution to conduct their local competitions while the union was mandated by constitution to conduct national championships and selection trails every year.

Avira added that clubs need to either run amatuer or professional bouts but not mix them up otherwise confusion on rules and standards would arise.

He thanked Beni for his concern about amateur boxing and advised him  to see NCD Boxing Association executives Honk Kiap to find out what the NCDBA was doing for city clubs.  

Avira also urged disenfranchised professional boxers not to use the media to discredit the amateur system, but rather worry about prize fighting.

PNG Boxing Union and NCD Boxing Association are working in partnership to reintroduce bi-weekly competitions for their elite boxers. 

Avira said having more competitions was the way forward in terms of preparing fighters for the 2015 Games.