By Elijah Lavett – EM TV Sports, Port Moresby
PNG’s Boxers will be attending the Oceania Championships in Canberra, Australia and the Youth Commonwealth Games to be held in Samoa later this year.
They are currently in training at the National Sports Institute in the Eastern Highlands Province.
Four boxers will be attending the championships, while two of them will attend the Youth Commonwealth Games.
PNG captain, Tom Boga who grabbed gold during the Pacific Games will be accompanied by fellow medalists Henry Uming, Charles and Jonathan Keama, to the Oceania Championships, while Thadius Katua and Baypu Loki will attend the Youth Commonwealth Games.
“The boys have been training hard since they started months earlier, leading up to the Pacific Games, and heading to the Oceania Championships is a bonus for us” said President for PNG boxing, John Avira,
The Oceania Championships is used as the first stage of the qualifying process to the Rio Olympics, if the boxers succeed, they proceed on to the 2nd qualifying competition which is the World Championships.
The 3 female boxers, Philo Magaiva, Debbie and Raphella Baki Kaore will not be taking part in the Oceania Championships as the women’s qualifiers for Rio will be held separately with the date yet to be confirmed.
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