Shot in the arm for boxing

The Amateur Boxing Association of Sri Lanka (ABASL) has created history by successfully hosting the dual meet between Sri Lanka and the Philippines over the weekend.

Exchanges were even in the two legs worked off in Colombo and Pannala with the hosts Sri Lanka making best use of their home conditions. Boxing has been one of the few sports at which Sri Lanka has excelled at Asian level in the past.

Unfortunately, our boxers have failed to maintain that in the Asian ring since the 1970s and '80s. But the man who gave a 'rebirth' to modern Lankan boxing is none other than Dian Gomes, the current President of ABASL who is making his best efforts to improve the local standards.

Organising a dual boxing championship between Sri Lanka and the Philippines is just one attempt to give our boxers much needed international exposure.

Competing back home would give inspiration and confidence to our boxers so that when they step into the international ring on foreign soil, they are matured enough to bear the pressure.

Boxing is a sport where just the skill and the strength would make you a champion.

True that these two ingredients are vital for a successful recipe to make a champion. But they should be effectively combined with intelligence, instant thinking, quick decision making, stamina, staying power and more importantly to bear pressure under tight situations.

All that would come through experience. The initial experience should be given back home before their supporters to gain confidence, which would play a key role to keep the mind of a boxer cool. That would inspire him to take his opponent with greater confidence. That is what exactly the ABASL is doing at the moment in getting the Filipinos down to box here.

But the drive should continue to get down a few other Asian teams of similar strength or slightly above us. We are sure that Gomes and his dynamic team would have thought about this aspect. The ABASL has been doing a good job in the last couple of years and major honours should go to Gomes, one of the top administrators in the garment industry.

It was Gomes who introduced a 'new boxing culture'. He did that by example, providing jobs to some of the promising schoolboy boxers when they were just out of school. As the Managing Director of the MAS Holdings' Slimline (Pvt) Limited, Gomes believed in the power of sportsmen and women to add strength to his company in Pannala. They have employed some of the top sportsmen and women in Sri Lanka and have now created a name in Sri Lankan sports.

Especially in Sri Lanka boxing, Slimline has emerged to be a champion team at almost every domestic competition in recent times. Gomes does not need publicity and is a silent worker who has proved his ability by work.

His success story is an eye opener to both sports administrators as well as company directors. He has proved how a sport like boxing, which has a poor spectator interest in Sri Lanka, could be developed with limited resources and no major sponsorships.

Secondly, the sportsmen and women whom he has provided employment at Slimline have proved themselves equally both in their work as well as in sports. It should inspire some of other sports minded top executives to provide special consideration for sportsmen and women in providing employment in future.

True that we cannot dream of would class boxers right now, considering the genetic build, resources and endurance we have at present. But we could well aim for a medal at Asian Games level. If the present development plan of the ABSL continues well for a few more years, it will not be a dream hard to fulfill. What is needed is a little backing for the ABASL from everybody who are interested in promoting this sport.

There are many youth in the provinces who are blessed with natural ability for a sport of this nature. What is needed is to identify the raw talent and develop them carefully, teach them the technical aspect of the ring sport and groom them carefully.

At the same time, we must look after other needs of those youth such as employment. Slimline has succeeded this to a greater extent and it has been a mutually beneficial business association for the employer as well because those sportsmen and women in return have brought fame to their company.

Developing a top class boxer is not an overnight exercise. We must identify a few top class schoolboy boxers and form a development squad. They should be given exposure first at South Asian level and then on to some of the South East Asian countries such as the Philippines. It is an investment for the future. At the same time, we could identify a few top-level local coaches and update their knowledge so that they could go to the provinces and give back to their students.

The ABASL is heading in the right direction and is an example to many national sports associations, especially for those so-called 'well organised' NSAs who eternally cry for funds, without making an effort.