Surely we are happy with the progress of welterweight boxer Winston Hill at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.

Now with a bronze medal in the bag, Hill has chance to grab either a silver or gold, pending on the outcome of tonight’s semifinal clash against Aidan Walsh of Northern Ireland.

However, all of these would not be happening if it was not for the tough measures taken by Government, way back in 2014 to resurrect the sport.

At that time amateur boxing in the country was dead.

It had been like that for some years until the appointment of the Boxing Commission of Fiji directors by the Ministry of Youth and Sports to revive and clean-up amateur and professional boxing in the country.

At first, things did not go well with FASANOC and there were threats that the Fiji Amateur Boxing Association (FABA) could be suspended by the International Boxing Association (AIBA).This means that we would not be able to participate at the Pacific Games, Oceania Championship, Commonwealth and the Olympic Games.

The then interim FABA president the late Major Samisoni Kafoa was adamant of getting things rolling and he worked closely with the Fiji Sports Council and the Fiji National Sports Commission.

The no-nonsense Kafoa who was strongly backed by his team made changes and he also made it a point for amateur boxers to join a club if they are to participate in their programmes.

This saw the start of competition as new clubs like USP which Hill was a part of took part and it was there he had his first amateur fight. There were other clubs like Oripa, Boxing Brave, Warriors, Jittu Boxing, Uptown and the return of Army and Police to liven- up the competition.

Kafoa also made sure that the sport was taken around the country as they held programmes in Lautoka, Labasa and Levuka as the interests soared from there.

When the time was right, Kafoa and his team handed back the running of the amateur boxing.

And from its annual general meeting saw the appointment of Manasa Baravilala as president and with his committee they took it on to the next level.

Whatever the outcome of Hill’s fight tonight, let’s not forget to give credit to our unsung heroes, who have stood the test during tough times for the sake of reviving amateur boxing in Fiji.

Edited by Osea  Bola

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