Bulolo to host boxing champs

By HENRY MORABANG
THE rescheduled national boxing championships will be staged on October 26-28 at Bulolo in Morobe.
Papua New Guinea Boxing Union (PNGBU) president John Avira said the championships were deferred from the election period so that all the centres would have an opportunity to attend.
Avira was grateful to Bulolo MP Sam Basil’s support.
Tournament director Dick Larry said provincial boxing teams could use the championships to assess their fighters for November’s PNG Games in Kokopo.
He said while the Bulolo championships were for senior boxers, he encouraged novice boxers selected for Kokopo to use the tournament to gauge their performance.
Larry said the championships could be used as a stepping stone as well by those with potential and aspirations as the world championships in Uzbekistan and the youth championships in Thailand were coming up later in the year. A women’s world championships will also be staged.
The London Olympics featured women’s boxing, so PNG should be prepared as the Pacific Games Council may include the sport in the 2015 Pacific Games to be staged in this country.
Larry is calling on provincial teams not to include their senior or elite boxers in the Kokopo Games for safety reasons.
“It is a grassroots games, and all novice boxers only will take part,” he said.