Boxing put off

A possible breach of the International Association of Boxing Federation rules meant that a boxing tournament scheduled to be held on Rarotonga last week between Cook Islands boxers and a club from Tahiti was canned.

Cook Islands Boxing Association president Tupou Faireka explained that through personal and Cook Islands connections with a club in Tahiti – a tournament on Rarotonga was organised.

Faireka says they were unaware of the status of the club they were dealing with in Tahiti and the reason they invited the team to come to Rarotonga was because a number of the club’s boxers have Cook Islands lineage.

But when the Tahiti team arrived on the island Faireka says he received an email from the Oceania Boxing Association saying that the club from Tahiti they were dealing with was not an affiliated member of the Oceania Boxing Association or the international body.

“We were told that if we ran the tournament, it would be illegal and we would be in breach of the international boxing body rules,” says Faireka.

Faireka says that while the Tahiti boxing team was on the island they joined local boxers at training and shared new techniques and skills.

The local boxing association also hosted the club and made sure they were taken care of while on the island.

Faireka adds that they’ve encouraged the Tahiti club to go home and align themselves with the Oceania Boxing Association so that tournaments they do plan in the future are sanctioned.

Meanwhile Faireka says that they are looking at sending a number of Cook Islands boxers to Tahiti for training ahead of the Pacific Games in New Caledonia this coming August.