Boxer remains optimistic

PAPUA New Guinea boxer John Ume remains optimistic in securing a spot for the Olympic Games in July despite the ongoing impact of Covid-19 in international sports.
After attending only one Olympic qualifier, Ume and fellow boxers Flora Loga and Jamie Chang had returned to country and have since been at training with no competition since March last year. “The last games we attended was in Arman (Jordan) which was in March last year and that was one of our first qualifiers for the Olympics,” he said.
“For boxing you have to qualify for in the sixth placing, so you have the gold and bronze playoffs so if you make the quarter finals, you’re qualified. Unfortunately I didn’t make it, I won my first bout against Saudi Arabia but I lost on points in next fight against Mongolia.
“Straight after we returned from the qualifiers, almost everything was shut down due to Covid-19 so we were only restricted to training from our local clubs and we had no form of competition up till now.
“Training has been going well but the only problem has been finding a gym to properly train since most gyms were closed.
“I was training at the Defence Boxing Club (at Murray Barracks) but at the moment it’s closed so myself and my coach have been using the stadium.”
Ume added that a postponed boxing championship in France would be another qualifying event for the Olympics with the lightweight fighter keen on securing a spot for the Games in July.
“We had a world championship that was supposed to held in France last year that’s been postponed so that will be another big event for us to attend in order for us to attend in order for us to qualify for Tokyo.”