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The Schools Boxing Association of Sri Lanka, has made arrangements to hold their annual Inter-schools freshers boxing tournament for the L. V. Jayaweera Memorial Cup, from 6th to 9th June. This year's venue will be Polonnaruwa Royal College. Last year's winners St. Sylvesters College, Kandy will be making a strong bid to regain the Cup, but they will not have it easy with stiff competition from St. Johns College, Nugegoda, Royal College Colombo, Seevali MMV Ratnapura and the year 2000 winners Pilimatalawa M.M.V.

With the tournament around the corner, it is appropriate to have a glimpse into the history of this meet.

Before 1969, the Stubbs' Shield Championships was the only safe boxing tournament for schoolboys where the weight categories were matched with corresponding age limits. The standard was extremely high and the champions with experience kept on participating annually as long as they were in school.

The new comers rarely had a chance of winning. Hence in 1969, an Inter-schools Novices Meet was introduced for the benefit of new schoolboys in order to gain experience prior to participating at the Stubbs Shield Championships. This new tournament was named as T. B. Jayah Memorial Cup Meet, in the name of Maradana Zahira College Principal who had been a past President of the Association.

However, there were still lot of Novices, who could not win even at T. B. Jayah Cup Meet, but spiritedly kept on fighting for many years, until they finally won at the finals. By this method, they gained much experience. The freshers who wanted to box at Novices Meet were reluctant, fearing to face the much experienced boxers.

In 1972, N. Thambimuttu the Master in Charge of Boxing at St. Michaels' College Polwatte (Colpetty), had a brain-wave and suggested a new idea, a kind of panacea, to eradicate this unwarranted fear. He and I formulated a plan to hold a new meet, purely for freshers, the first-time participants. The meet was to be called the "L. V. Jayaweera Memorial Cup Meet", in memory of a famous and fine boxer in Nineteen Twenties and Thirties. He had boxed for Ceylon Garrison Artillary (CGA) and at National Championships held in 1927, he had been adjudged as the "Most Scientific Boxer'. Later he coached Carey College team. Fredrick Obeysekera a former President of the ABA volunteered to donate the Challenge Cup needed.

The inaugural meet was held in May 1972 at the Army Basketball Courts, Echelon Square in front of the treasury Building. The Galadari Meridian Hotel stands there now. The Mahiyanagana Maha Vidyalaya (now a Central College) boxers who had come to Colombo for the first time, won the Championship Cup, I was their Science Master and Boxing Couch. Of the 6 boxers we could afford to bring, 5 won at finals and the remaining one was runner-up. Giving publicity to the epic event one news paper had a caption "Kurakkan Strength brings victory". Another said "Boxers made out of Iron".

Royal College, Colombo was placed second and St. Marys College, Dehiwala was placed third. A farmer from Mahiyangana, a parent of boxer who accompanied us, was unexpectedly called upon to the ring to give away the awards. 

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