THE Fiji Amateur Boxing junior and youths’ team have shown significant improvement this year, says head coach Cam Todd.
Todd described the two-day competition over the weekend, against four teams from New Zealand as great and successful, with Fiji performing better than last year.
“Despite New Zealand winning slightly on the second day, Fiji was able to win the first day in terms of wins and losses, and the total medal count was close between the teams. This marked a big improvement from the previous year’s competition,” said Todd.
Todd expressed his happiness with the support from locals, as well as the quality of fights during the competition.
He highlighted the progress of junior youth boxers who had previously competed in Tahiti and had won all their bouts.
“The presence of young people in the crowd was particularly encouraging for the future of boxing in Fiji.
“The New Zealand clubs also had a positive experience working with Fiji and were pleased with the competition.”
Todd emphasised the importance of continuing to work with local clubs and coaches to improve basic techniques.
He plans to increase outreach efforts in the coming months to support the growth of amateur boxing in Fiji.
“I still need to get out to the clubs and spend more time with the coaches, just to work on basic technique, things like that, just to help bring them up the level.
“I’m hoping to get a club in the next month or so, so I can actually do some more outreach work, but bringing these teams over here shows a lot of the local clubs and local boxes, some of the areas they need to work on. But I’m excited by the progress we’ve made so far.”
The Fiji Amateur Boxing team is now gearing up for the Golden Gloves competition, set to take place in Nausori this Friday and Saturday.
