Last week, we analysed that fateful Blue Water Boxing program at Lawaqa Park on August 31, 2024 when the dark side of boxing reared its ugly head once again in full view of the public. Some of our readers have asked me to elaborate on a number of issues and factors that were kept brief in that article. Others have requested that I post that article on Facebook. I will accede to both in good time, but let me explain why first. Whenever one writes these types of columns, there is a keen concern to ensure that the facts are kept as accurate as possible and that the article has an acceptable size. This necessitates that considerable effort is exerted to ascertain the facts from a number of different sources. Moreover, it is important to ensure that no legal tripwires are triggered in the process. This used to be a huge concern in the not-too-distant past even though the environment allows for much more slack these days. Furthermore, columns have to be written in such a way that they are easy to follow, have assertions that are backed by facts, are thought-provoking, illuminating and interesting to read, are not too long and tedious to read from the beginning to the end, and have analyses that add positively to the general discourse on whatever is under discussion. This is what dictates the shape and content of a column and this is what makes a good column. Let’s continue with our analyses of Fiji Boxing here.
Mayhem in the ring
Coming back to the fateful fiasco at Lawaqa, we witnessed a program falling apart and descending into chaos on a number of fronts. This was nothing new because we have encountered this dark underbelly of boxing in the past. I remember vividly how a super-charged match between Jo “Hitman” Ravudi and Tongan “Torpedo” Sione Talia’uli in 1992 hung on a tripwire throughout the fight until it exploded all around the ring – both inside and out – at the end. Not long after that free-for-all, we had another program pairing Samoan Asomua Naea against upcoming Kadavu lad, Mosese Sorovi. Asomua was Teuane Naea’s younger brother. And Teuane had steamrolled a number of Fiji boxers. That night a pulsating crowd congregated at the National Gymnasium eagerly anticipating a big international win for Sorovi amid a continuing boxing struggle for dominance between Fiji and Samoa. Prior to this, Samoan heavyweight Fossie Schmidt had rampaged through Fiji in the 1970s and early 1980s cutting through the ranks of a formidable array of heavyweight boxers. That was during the era of heavyweight boxing in Fiji when almost every program was headlined with a heavyweight match-up. There is one local promoter, Abdul Khan, who still believes in this. Unfortunately, he has not been active for a while now. Coming back to Mosese Sorovi, he was from a prominent boxing family from Kadavu that featured Jo Nitiva and Matereti Valu. Both Nitiva and Valu gained fame in Australia by winning meaningful titles and Moji was set to follow in their footsteps. That night in 1992 at the National Gymnasium the public expected fireworks as there had been a great build-up to the event. I was part of that fraternity of fight fans – I still am. My father and I arrived with promoter Sashi Kumar and joined Kamal Shah’s group in the first two rows at ringside. Shah’s Boxing Promotions had worked hard to become the number one promoter at that time. Ilisoni Nate, Ponipate Ravula, etc. were still officiating as senior referees even though Bob Nair (President, Fiji Boxing Council) had managed to rope in Ilaitia Vaka, Pratap Sen and a number of other new fight officials. Semi Koroi, the pre-eminent ring announcer at the time, was slated to run the show that evening. When it became obvious that he would be late – there were no mobile phones at the time – Bob Nair turned to me to kick off the program as things had begun to run late. That was my first attempt at the role and I approached it with considerable trepidation while putting up a confident front. “Just keep it going until Semi arrives”, I was told. I had to keep acknowledging the sponsors while hyping up the key upcoming bouts as the night progressed. Sigatoka Electric was big in boxing then and I did my job. “Fiji vs Samoa”, I shouted at intervals between bouts. And the crowd loved it as the atmosphere got charged up in anticipation of the main bout. I was happy to do this as part of my job because, after all, Semi Koroi was going to relieve me shortly. Well, Semi Koroi had apparently bumped into a bottle of whiskey and decided gleefully that boxing was not among his immediate concerns that night. So, there I was, holding the mic with the realisation that I was the ring announcer for the program. And I had done a great job churning up expectations among the crowd who were just chomping at the bits as the main bout approached. “Ni bula kemuni na turaga kei na marama … we have now finished the preliminaries. It’s taaiiiime for the main event. Feejeeee vs Samoaaaa”. Things began to unravel straight after that. There was fidgeting and whispers around the ring. Officials were making repeated urgent runs to the change rooms. Mosese Sorovi appeared to have no sense of urgency as he entered the ring with his entourage. Bob Nair suddenly got up and walked purposefully to Naea’s changeroom as an anticipatory silence descended on the venue. When he walked back heavily towards the ring, I knew we had bad news. He handed me a sick-sheet and told me to announce that the fight was off because Naea had been declared medically unfit. I knew all about crowd violence and flying chairs as I had witnessed the whole works in the past. In one case, then PM Sitiveni Rabuka, disappeared miraculously as senseless violence erupted around the ring. The same was just about to happen that night and I had the mic and the announcement to make. This was the trigger! I looked at Bob and asked him to get Naea into the ring no matter what it took. In the meantime, I spoke to Sorovi about the sick-sheet and the real possibility of crowd violence. To this day I respect him for his response and co-operation. After a while, Naea’s group took the ring and faced Sorovi as the crowd fidgeted restlessly. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have an announcement to make”, I said and the crowd groaned. Then I gave the mic to Sorovi and he addressed the crowd as he acknowledged Naea and the two shook hands. “This fight will happen right here later in the year”, I told the crowd as the tension dissipated slowly and I struggled to take desperate breaths of relief. We had just avoided a huge explosion that would have tarnished the image of the sweet science once again. This is what boxing officials continuously try to pre-empt and avoid. The aim is to eventually stamp it out of boxing totally.
Lawlessness in Lawaqa
This is exactly what Boxing Commission of Fiji (BCF) was set up to control and try to avoid. Last week we looked at a number of fronts on which we fell short. Let me explain what was happening in Semi Dauloloma’s camp by way of background to that fiasco. Keen fans will know that the stakes were particularly high for that bout because the Fiji heavyweight title was at stake. This title has historically had a host of socio-cultural concerns wrapped around it. In traditional settings with warrior pasts like Fiji, there are group dominance (superiority) connotations. Whenever the Fiji heavyweight champion entered the right (prior to James Singh) it was a matter of both pride and reputation for the whole of Fiji – this was especially so for the indigenous portion of our population. In the case of James Singh, there has been a salient discomfort with the fact that he is not totally Fijian because his father is Indo-Fijian. When Semi Dauloloma entered the ring that night in Lawaqa, he knew that this was a huge burden he had to see through. There were emotions beyond ordinary comprehension at play. So, when Semi put Singh down with a devastating left hook in round one and Singh showed the heart of a warrior by getting up, it was a huge shock not only to the public, but more importantly, to the Dauloloma corner. They knew suddenly that they had a real fight on their hands. They had already tried a number of tactics (both dirty and otherwise) and Singh was still staring at them from the other corner. This is when corners need to delve deep into their bags to activate innovative strategies. Frustration set in soon after in the next stanza when Singh started connecting with his one-off rights. That’s when the whole bout descended into thuggery. Unfortunately, it was Fiji Boxing that took a beating that fateful night in Lawaqa. We need to get back up, shake off the cobwebs and look to the future that still shines.
- DR SUBHASH APPANNA is a senior USP academic and boxing enthusiast who chaired Fiji Boxing for 4 years. He also writes regularly on issues of historical and national significance. The views expressed here are his alone and not necessarily shared by this newspaper or his employers subhash.appana@usp.ac.fj.
