CELEBRATING his 70th birthday earlier last week Alipate Korovou has only one advice for young people and that is to lead a healthy life.
Korovou, regarded as one of the country’s oldest sporting personalities made a name for himself in the local boxing sphere having represented Fiji in the Pacific Games formerly known as the South Pacific Games.
Respected by many, at 70 he tells a tale of his intention to take up the sport purely to have the experience of flying on an airplane.
“I initially took up the sport because all I wanted to do was to have the experience of boarding the airplane. I asked my uncle one day, when are we going to get on a plane.
He responded telling me that it has to be paid. Unless you play rugby or a sport then you can fly overseas for free.
“While I initially came to Suva from Lau for school, by accident I had ended up in Walu Bay also with an uncle of mine and he was telling me about stories about the first South Pacific Games. He said if I did well then I would be able to represent Fiji in the next South Pacific Games in boxing. And then he started talking about everything that would be provided, free uniform, training gear and a free ride to an airplane.
“That’s what got my attention and I had worked myself from there,” he said.
Looking back on his life, he said he had no regrets and after watching the next three generations of his kin grow, his greatest legacy is to ensure that they are in a capacity to look after themselves and while he may have aged, his ability to put up a mean workout could outclass even the youngest exercise fanatic there is.
“If for one day I do not exercise it’s almost as if something is missing and that my duties of the day are incomplete. When I wake up at 1am or 2am I have to do something in that hour, if it has to be some form of exercise I will do it. Exercise is a part of my life.
“Sometimes when I go about my day and don’t exercise, I feel guilty,” he said.
Reminiscing on his boxing days, Korovou said one of the greatest things that never happened to him was to be susceptible to foul play.
“Back then I had come across American boxers in the ring.
“The thing is these overseas boxers they play on foul play, that’s one thing I didn’t learn.
“My coach was a true boxer; he made sure he did not teach me any foul play,” he said.
Reaching a point where life has taught him many lessons, he hopes people will do the same and work on looking after themselves to live a longer life.
“In our life on earth we have to look after our body because nobody is going to do it for you.
“You have to look after it being careful of the way you eat, sleep, drink and exercise.
“With that four things you have, if you can’t manage these things well, then you need to take a closer look at changing your life,” the first Fijian boxer to win a Commonwealth boxing title said.
