Ring the bell, lots of boxing planned
By Charles Pitt

With the interest in boxing running high, the Cook Islands Amateur Boxing Association is organising a series of local competitions.
These are scheduled for Tuesday 21 November, Tuesday 5 December, Tuesday 19 December, Tuesday 16 January 2007 and Tuesday 23 January 2007.
At this stage the plan is to hold all competitions at the usual venue, the Banana Court. The association is considering providing trophies for all weight categories.
NEED
The association has recognised the need for local boxers to have more frequent bouts to not only retain their interest in the sport but to increase and maintain fitness and skills.
The bouts are also essential to build up competitiveness for the return contest with Tahiti in Tahiti in February.
With more than 1200 active boxers in Tahiti, competitiveness is very high and Tahiti will select only their best boxers for the contest. This means our boxers will be up against Tahitian and French champions.
A trip to Fiji is planned for May. From these local contests and overseas competitions, a team will be selected and prepared for the Pacific Games in Samoa in August.
The association’s immediate priority is to provide the clubs with much needed boxing equipment such as training gloves, punching bags and skipping ropes. Sadly, pilfering has meant something like $1,000 worth of equipment is being lost each year.
The association is in the process of seeking a much needed national headquarters where the national team selected for the Samoa Games can receive more specialised training. Various venues are being considered.

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