Change In Venue Welcomed

The change in venue and date for the Boxing Olympic qualifier from Wuhan, China to Amman, Jordan is a welcome opportunity for Team Fiji Boxers said Fiji Boxing President Manasa Baravilala.

"The change is actually beneficial as our boxers have more time to prepare," said Fiji Boxing President Manasa Baravilala.

Manasa said the only drawback would be the additional one month of preparation cost and the additional cost of travel to Jordan.

The Boxing Olympic qualifier was due to take place in Wuhan between February 3 and 14 but the recent outbreak of the deadly coronavirus has forced the change of venue.

Amman has stepped in, with action now set for Prince Hamza Arena between March 3 and 11.

The capital has been chosen by the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Boxing Taskforce (BTF) which is in charge of the Tokyo 2020 competitions after the International Boxing Association (AIBA) was suspended as the governing body for the sport in May last year.

Manasa said Fiji’s athletes Jone Davule and Winston Hill, who are both trying to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, were focused and preparing well and were not hindered by the change in venue and date.

"Jone returned last week (30th Jan) and Australian Hall of Fame and Sydney University Boxing Coach, Johnny Lewis, is very pleased with his progress, " he said.

Manasa said Mr Lewis only regret was that Jone could not stay another two or three weeks to continue his training at Sydney University.

"The boxers are in great spirit and training extremely hard and looking to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

"Fiji Amateur Boxing Association records its appreciation to Johnny Lewis for training Johnny pro-bono and to Fiji National Sports Commission for funding return airfares and accommodation," he said.  Manasa also acknowledged the IOC Tokyo 2020 Scholarship Program of which Winston is a recipient.

Manasa said both Winston and Jone are back training with Pauliasi Ratu, Fiji's only AIBA Star 2 Coach who will act as Coach and Manager for the team to Jordan.

Meanwhile Fiji will host the AIBA (The International Boxing Association, Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur) Forum of Oceania on February 22nd, 2020 in Nadi.

This event would be the second continental forum after a successful start in Panama City with a European Forum scheduled for February 29th, 2020 in Assisi, Italy, and the rest of the two dates for Asian and African forums to be announced soon.

There are in total 16 National Federations in Oceania.

AIBA Interim President Mohamed Moustahsane noted that after the first forum in Panama there were a lot of good changes in AIBA-National Federations relationships.

"Oceania has a big potential in developing our beautiful sport in the region. We truly believe that after intense forum’s discussions we will find solutions how to develop boxing on the continental," said Dr Moustahsane.

"We need to listen to Oceanian NFs and find appropriate solutions to solve all existing issues. And step by step we will come to a new powerful strategy for the future."

With the Rugby 7s Men and Women teams  qualified for Tokyo 2020, Boxing is one of 7 other sports vying for qualification slots for the Olympic Games.

PIC: Getty Images