Ume beats Australian

The National Sports
John Ume

By JAMIE HARO
PAPUA New Guinea’s Olympian John Ume is upbeat about his Olympic qualifier in Thailand next month after defeating New South Wales hardman Henry Nable by a unanimous decision in the 63.5kg division bout of the Kokoda Challenge in Port Moresby yesterday.
Ume, who was PNG’s lone boxer in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is again aiming to qualify for the Paris Olympics in June.
He said yesterday that this would be his last year in amateur boxing as he plans to expand on other plans that would be revealed at a later date. “I’ve had to fight stronger opponents in my international bouts and this is one of those tough fights against Henry tonight (last night),” Ume said.
“I knew he wouldn’t take this bout lightly so he also gave his best out there in the ring.
“It has been a great journey in boxing so far and I want to thank PNG Boxing Union, our sponsors for making this event possible and the crowd that turned up to support this event.
“It means a lot and feels great to fight in an international bout on home soil,” he said following yesterday’s fight in Port Moresby.
Nable said it was a great experience to fight an opponent who has gone up against much more stronger boxers in the Commonwealth Games and Tokyo Olympics.
“I’ve watched him (John) fight against Harry Garside so obviously I knew what I was going to go up against, tough fight and a great effort as well. It’s just a takeaway experience and I wish John the best in this next tournaments,” Nable said after the main bout.
Their fight was considered the best bout in the men’s division in this challenge while Team Victoria were crowned champions for the 2024 Kokoda Cup Challenge.
Meanwhile, PNG’s 57kg men’s champion Allan Oaike did not have game time after his NSW opponent Harrison Knew could not travel up to Port Moresby.
Kendu Steven on the other hand lost against his Victorian opponent Dominic Molinaro in the men’s 75kg.
Ume, Oaike and Steven are preparing to attend the Olympic qualifiers in Thailand next month and would be joined by female teammate Sheila Yama who is currently training in New Zealand.