Boxing-Punches light up Victoria Gymnasium |02 April 2007

The prime aim of the competition was for the SABF to select potential pugilists to attend training camps in Cuba as from the end of April and in Algeria in July in preparation for the forthcoming All-Africa Games (July 11 to 23) and the Indian Ocean Islands Games (in Madagascar, from August 9 to 19).

There were eight bouts on Saturday’s programme and members of the public were able to see in action young fighters from the school of boxing set up by the SABF as well as experienced punchers like Kitson Julie and Jean-Paul Mellie.

Fights in the younger category lasted three rounds of one-and-half minute whilst the seniors boxed for four rounds of two minutes.

In the first bout of the night, young pugilist Stan Nicette edged out Samy Nair 2-1 to claim victory in the 47-kg category. Both Nicette and Nair are from the school of boxing.

In the 60-kg category, Hervé Joubert overcame Selby Jérémie, whilst Dave Jérémie defeated Effendy Prosper.

In the senior category, Dave César beat Steve Boniface to clinch victory in the 54-kg division.
In a tightly contested bout, Pat Rose narrowly defeated Michael Brioche in the 69-kg category.

After a long absence from the ring, Mervin Dugasse could not hold on to the pressure exerted on him by Alva Botsoie who went on to win the other 69-kg bout.

In one of the two highly awaited fights on Saturday’s programme, experienced fighter Jean-Paul Mellie narrowly defeated the much-improved MacFarlène Estrale in the 60-kg bout which was interrupted for more than 20 minutes after a fire started in one of the floodlight inside the gymnasium.

Following a quick response by the Fire Department, the two boxers again started trading punches and in the end the judges declared Mellie the winner on a 2-1 score.

In the other awaited bout, Kitson Julie encountered tough resistance from Nigel Benoit in the 64-kg division. Both fighters displayed good techniques which kept the spectators on the edge of their seats. Julie, however, banked on his experience to edge out Benoit on points.

According to SABF chairman Kenneth Nalletamby, Saturday’s competition has given them an idea about who will feature on the team bound for Cuba and Algeria and in which category the boxers will fight.

Still according to chairman Nalletamby, a lot of new boxers have started training but they did not feature in Saturday’s competition because they were not ready in terms of techniques.

“There is quite a big gap between the newcomers and the more experienced fighters. It would have been a huge disadvantage for them to fight today (Saturday),” explained Nalletamby.

The SABF also hopes to send a team to the zone seven competition which will be held in Madagascar prior to the training camps.

Still according to chairman Nalletamby, the SABF chose the Algeria training camp to enable the boxers to adapt to the high altitude.

In terms of competition, SABF chairman Nalletamby has promised that in future they will try to host a monthly competition, giving boxing fanatics the opportunity to enjoy the sport. The involvement of foreign teams is also a big priority for chairman Nalletamby and his team.

R. D.