Keama wins gold

BOXER Charles Keama retained his regional 52kg division title after beating Australia’s Tyler Blizzard in the flyweight final of the Oceania Boxing Championships on the Gold Coast yesterday.
The points victory at the Paradise Point Bowls Club saw Keama pick up Papua New Guinea’s only gold medal at the event as well as earning a spot at this year’s AIBA (International Boxing Association) Men’s World Championships in Hamburg, Germany, from Aug 25 to Sept 2.
Keama will be joined by teammate Maxie Tekura Mangea at the World Championships after the Bougainvillean won a silver medal after losing to Australia’s Alex Winwood in the light flyweight final.
The 23-year-old Central man who is the current Oceania champion, gets another shot at the World Championships after attending the 2015 edition in Doha, Qatar.
Keama lost in the opening round to Armenian Koryun Sogohomonyan.
After returning from the world champs, he went on to win a Pacific Games gold medal stopping French Polynesia’s Mataurii Ienfa in the lightweight final.
An elated PNG Amatuer Boxing Union president John Avira congratulated Keama for defending his Oceania title. “This is the second time Keama has managed to win the Oceania flyweight title and PNG boxing is very proud of his performance,” Avira said.
Avira commended the efforts of the team led by coach Joe Aufa and Dick Larry.
He said the Papua New Guinea team won a gold, a silver and two bronze medals at the Gold Coast event.
The bronze medals were won by John Ume, Andrew Aisaga and the Brisbane-based Talamoni Kami.
Beupu Noki was the only boxer to miss out on winning a medal.
Avira thanked all the stakeholders for the support especially the Kumul Holdings Limited and the PNG National Olympic for making the trip possible.