Carlos Kambaekwa
28 October 2008
Windhoek — Namibia's leading boxing promoter Nestor Tobias has appealed to government to revisit its fragile sport policies, which clearly discriminate against professional athletes.
Tobias made the humble plea to President Hifikepunye Pohamba at State House in Windhoek during a routine courtesy call yesterday.
"Professional boxers in Namibia have achieved a lot internationally despite limited resources and the situation can only go from strength to strength with sufficient funding, which is currently not the case.
"Therefore, I would like to appeal to you as Head of State to convince the line ministry to reconsider its stance towards professional athletes."
The President appeared sympathetic to the humble plea and promised to do everything in his power in an effort to drill the message across to his subjects.
Leading boxers Paulus "Hitman" Moses and Paulus "Ali" Nuumbembe were introduced to President Pohamba ahead of their historic world title fights next month.
Moses will be fighting for the WBA lightweight title against defending champion Yusuke Kobori from Japan while Nuumbembe takes on Bongani Mwalase for the WBF welterweight crown.
The President said the pair should consider themselves as heroes of this country and urged them to go and represent Namibia with honour and more importantly urged the boxers to see themselves as ambassadors.
"A hero is somebody who fights for his native country and its inhabitants - not as individuals. I would also like to take this opportunity and thank Nestor Tobias for a job well done, and specifically like to express my appreciation towards you for putting Namibian boxing on the world map."
He cited the example of Frank Fredericks who has popularized Namibia internationally and expressed satisfaction with the manner in which local boxers have carried the torch since taking over from the retired Fredericks.
Pohamba also expressed concern over the preferred venue for the bout that will take place in Tokyo, Japan - the home turf of Moses' opponent Yusuke Kobori, but encouraged the Namibian not to shy away from the task at hand.
"Personally, I would have preferred a neutral venue but don't be discouraged by the presence of the expected large Japanese crowd. I send you off today - go and perform to the best of your ability and I want to receive you with something that we can all be proud of when you come back with pride on behalf of the Namibian nation."
Meanwhile, Tobias added that it was his wish to stage a world title fight on home soil but the continued lack of proper funding would always remain a stumbling block in that respect.
"I've no doubt in my mind that Hitman will become world champion on the 24th of next month and that's why I want him to make his first title defence in front of his own fans but the financial climate in Namibia does not allow that unless something drastically is done to beef up the financial side of professional boxing."
Nuumbembe has been thrown another lifeline to stake a serious claim at the WBF welterweight crown against the defending champion Bongani Mwalesa (South Africa) on the 14th of next month in Bloemfontein.
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