Fiji amateur boxing trainer Osea Nanovu says boxing is a way to heal youths pushed away by society.
Nanovu is training several boxers at the Stanley Brown Boxing Gym in Walu Bay, Suva for the amateur boxing weekly competition.
He said building the confidence of these youths through boxing would help them make stable decisions and teach them to be disciplined.
“One of the aims is to help these boxers secure a better future,” he said.
“Even though this is a minor sport, it is also a source of employment where majority of our boxers have joined the disciplinary forces.
“Some of these boxers come from broken families, poor backgrounds and have been pushed away by family, and they have found refuge in boxing to help them go through these challenges.”
As they prepare for their weekly competition, Nanovu said their main focus was not only for competition but to boost the morale of these boxers to become good ambassadors in the community.
Meanwhile, Nanovu said more women were joining the sport.
He said it was sad that people still had the mentality that women belong in the kitchen.
He says what people do not see is that boxing helps women in a healthier way and also in their self-defence.
“It also helps them control their feelings in terms of going through a pressured situation.
“We are grateful that women and young people are coming in to take up boxing.”
