Fighters set for tonight

By JACK AMI
ALL the top kick boxers in the Southern region will challenge for the Ox & Palm Cup elimination round at the Sports Inn, Port Moresby, tonight with high hopes of qualifying for the next stage.
The next leg is the Islands region in Kokopo on April 26, and it will then move to Momase and the Highlands region through to December.
In Port Moresby tonight, fighters will decide their fates in front of a capacity crowd.
From the Highlands region are  young Gabriel Sam, JAndy Sam, effrey Daka, Robin Oviri will feature with Momase’s Max­tone Lee while New Guinea Islands fighters miss out because of late flight bookings.
The other fighters from Southern are John Ake, Mexie Kania, Jack Ol­tomo, Jonathan Tu­hu, Joshua Puka and Wai Tupulu in the K1B eight man Ox & Palm Cup challenge.
The event starts with Port Moresby’s Ake against Lae’s Lee, followed by Pom’s Kania and Highlands Daka. Then Pom’s Oltomo and Highland’s Sam and Goroka’s Oviri faces Pom’s Tuhu. The main bout is a Pom affair between Puka and Tupulu.
It’s not an easy mission as all the fighters have prepared in advance to remain the one-man-standing for the major prize of K50,000, the Ox & Palm Cup and book a ticket to the KB1 in Japan.
PNG Kick Boxing Association CEO Stanley Nandex said tickets would be available at the gate from 3pm and will cost corporate table K500, ringside K50 and outer stand K25.