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EPISODE: Episode 20
Update – Pakistani boxers do not plan to attend Olympics in Tokyo, given the limited number of places available; India’s Mary Kom intends Tokyo to be her last. IABA; the Philippines sending a team to Thailand for training. IOC. Join us on our on-going exploration of the Olympics to be held in Tokyo 2021, featuring Christian from the Friday Night Panel, and the route to the ring. Watch TalkinFight weekdays at 12, 4, 7, and 8:30pm EST on YouTube or LIVE at talkinfight.com/live @Olympic @IOC Media @Abroad in Japan
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Transcribed:
Hello, talking fight fans, boxing fans around the world, welcome to another episode of the olympics, featuring christian from the friday night panel.
What have you discovered? What do you have for us today, news updates what he got.
Would you find it? Well, we’ve been taking a little bit of a look around uh around asia, south asia and specific, but uh asia in general over the last couple of days, uh just to see what’s going on over there uh in preparation for the olympics and we’ve seen a mix Of things we’re seeing um, you know some countries at this point have basically given up hope on an olympic showing and other countries that are really ramping up their their their activity in preparation for the tokyo olympic games.
So we’ve got uh several stories this afternoon.
We’Re going to cover quickly here, uh, first of which comes to us from karachi in pakistan.
So last month’s cancellation of the world olympic qualifying round has left at this point, pretty much no chance for the pakistani boxers to return the olympics, and it’s been about 17 years since they’ve been there, it seems unlikely that any pakistani fighter will be able to earn An olympic seat, uh national fighters not only finished rather poorly at the asian qualifiers in jordan last year, but also have not been uh at the top of the other game in the international circuit over the last four years, they’re also citing lack of funding and exposure At this point in time has impeded their growth and that’s a story that we hear just kind of all too often these days so pakistani boxers last featured in an olympic games back in 2004 in athens, uh pakistan reached very close to earning an olympic seat for 2012 in london uh, when the now pro boxer muhammad was seen qualified for the quarterfinals in the asian qualifying round uh for london, but was seen faltered in the quarters leaving pakistan with just once again.
Nobody headed off to the olympics in boxing, of course, other sports different story, but we’re interested in boxing, although there’s still nothing, although nothing major was really expected from the national team at the now canceled uh paris world qualifiers.
At that point in time there was still at least a bit of hope for them.
Pakistan’S head coach, uh arshad hussein was quoted as saying there was hope, but now i don’t see any chance, as per the criteria announced for the distribution of the 32 men’s seats.
Now the so at this point the ioc tripartite commission places are the only minor chance left for the pakistan’s national team, but there too it seems uh a bit tough, as there are at this point, there’s only five places for men and three for women that are Going to be allocated through the tripartite commission, so the pakistan boxing federation secretary, colonel nassir tong, did say you know we tried our level best to try to get some some chances for our fighters.
Pakistan had wanted to hold camp for the uh world qualifiers starting in april, but uh because of that qualification.
The federation at this point in time has shifted its uh stance as well as its preparation and its focus uh towards the 2023 south asian games, which pakistan will be hosting as well in four major cities in the punjab province.
So at this point in time the pakistanis have basically given up hope of a tokyo showing for this year.
I mean they still got fingers crossed for a tripartite uh placement or two, but it’s unlikely at this at this phase of the game jumping across the border.
Now uh indian boxer, mary comb has said that tokyo will be her final appearance at the olympics, but she does take solos from the fact that her bronze medal in 2012 has inspired young girls in the country to take up the sport.
Now comb is a six time world champion and has been boxing for 20 years, but had to wait until london gained the london games in 2012 for a shot at an olympic medal.
When women were first allowed to compete in the boxing category now she was quoted as saying tokyo will be my last olympics age matters here, i’m 38 now going on 39.
, four well, three technically, but four more years is a long is a long time pretty sure.
I won’t even be allowed, even if i’m willing to carry on to paris 2024 uh now, as we know, we’ve covered on this show before the age limit for the olympics typically is.
Uh is 40.
uh.
Now for tokyo it was extended to 41.
uh.
That was just because the olympics had been pushed back that year, due to the october 19 pandemic.
Uh comb did fail to make uh the cut for the rio 2016 games uh, but did uh in 20.
Sorry, the real games in 2016, but won the opportunity to qualify for tokyo 2022 after beating a younger challenger in the asian oceana qualifiers last year.
I guess at this point it would have been 2019.
but uh.
So it’s the last pretty soon that’ll be the last.
We’Re going to see out of mary calm for our third and final story.
This afternoon, though, we’re going to be looking at another team, that’s a national team! That’S ramping up activity.
As we get closer to the games.
The philippines is sending their national team to thailand.
Uh for a training camp over the next six weeks, world champion nettie, patekio and olympic-bound irish mango magno sorry have gradually regained their form after weeks of continuous workouts and conditioning inside the training bubble created by the philippines sports commission in laguna province.
At this point, they’re saying that they’re ready to elevate their training and their preparation for the tokyo games uh after the team has now left.
I guess yesterday now on wednesday to set up a six six-week, long training camp in thailand.
Patekyo said coming from a long respite, the training bubble was a big big help for us and i’m sure training in thailand is going to benefit us even more.
According to the association of boxing alliances of the philippines or abac secretary general, ed pixem, the overseas training in thailand is necessary, since the national boxers are in dire need of sparring partners.
Pixen added that the international olympic committee will announce uh the qualifiers from asia.
In two weeks time so they’ll be announcing those people who are already announced they’re not only qualified through the asia oceana qualifier, but also those boxers under the new system and the canceled qualifiers.
The cancel world qualifier who’s got who’s gon na be taking those top spots.
Now uh patekio, the reigning world uh women’s featherweight world champion as well as light flyweight carlo palum, are now left to hope that their lofty rankings are going to give them a shot at joining magno and humor martial in the olympic games, scheduled for july 23rd.
Through august, 8th uh accompanying the boxers to thailand are also going to be the coaches, obviously nolito velasco ronald chavez, elmer pamisa, ronaldo, golito and australian boxing consultant donald abbott abnett, so graham pakistan’s shifting focus at this point to the south asian games in 2023.
India’S top female fighters hanging up the gloves this summer, but at least olympically speaking, i’m not sure what her plans are following the uh following the olympics.
Not everyone has the same: cutoff uh and the filipinos are ramping up activity, uh headed into tokyo, so we’re seeing a range of different things happening, and this seems to be a topic that you and i keep coming back to um.
You know at least once or twice a week seems to be the disparity in support that we’re seeing from one national olympic committee to the next.
So you know we’re looking at.
You know we’re looking at pakistan uh where the national team is saying that they’re not getting the funds and exposure that are really going to help elevate them to that level.
Where there are going to be olympic contenders and then you go right across the border into india, where we’re seeing a very highly developed, uh boxing program, where we’re seeing top-rated fighters being sent to multiple tournaments around the world, you know you know in a very full Schedule and performing very well if it wasn’t for as we know, for that coven 19 outbreak, that just happened at uh buxom in spain and uh yeah.
Last week in spain, the india india was due to fight nine of those finals and took home eight silvers because they had to they had to walk away from them.
So we had walkovers so fielding strong, strong boxers and then right across the border.
We’Ve got no support seeing the same thing with zimbabwe: stepping up and uh sending you know stepping up with money to send their fighters to various regionals and internationals, and then we’ve got zambia on the other side, saying uh, the national team in zambia saying that we’re Not getting the support from the government we’re not getting the funds to do these things.
The government obviously saying that it’s just covered 19 precautions, but we’re seeing this disparity from one country to the next and i’m curious to see how it’s all going to play out at the end of the day.
If it’s just going to be a straight up, you’re going to look and say: oh no, better boxing program than these guys now it’s going to be a it might as well be a walk over and how much this training is going to shift between these really Well, developed uh programs versus these less developed programs, even from countries such as pakistan, which is a large country, large population base to pull from – and you know they do, they do have some sporting pedigree in pakistan as well.
Just you know: they’re not sinking the money into boxing when we first started uh, it’s okay! When we first started this uh series uh, you know it was notwithstanding the pandemic.
I was saying – and i just look forward to seeing the best of the best compete at the olympics in tokyo, but as we look under the microscope, we see more clearly now it’s not just as simple as the best of the best being able to compete, but Those who can afford and not only afford personally but then have their national body, support them, uh with international tournaments and and furthermore, sending them to the olympics if they do qualify, so it does get a bit complicated without a doubt, and it’s been a great exploration On your own behalf, but it just astounds me um, because we do live in a great country that does support its amateur athletes and has a lot of professional bodies.
Quite frankly, as we’ve discussed also whose day job it is to support those amateur athletes so and get them to the competitions they need to in order to be at the competitive level, uh and win, hopefully, and gain a podium spot.
But there are other countries that obviously just do not know they have other priorities as you and i both know, having been around the world and seen these practices uh in these developing nations, especially so that’s it is too bad uh, but i guess it is the Reality that yes, we’ll see the best of the best of those of who could afford it, yeah all right, ongoing disparity, but that is that is what’s happening this weekend in asia in boxing in asia at least uh.
As far as the olympic goes, uh pakistan’s basically hung up the gloves at this point in time and they’re they’re, shifting focus and they’re.
Not thinking in terms of tokyo at this point at all.
Right might be realistic, who knows uh but yeah, as you were saying huge country, population, wise and you’d think uh, a large number of fighters coming up from just like in the philippines.
Not well, i guess, i’m being a bit generalist, but you know you’d think that pakistan would have a large number there’s a strong.
There is a strong tradition for boxing in pakistan: india, sri lanka, bangladesh um in all these former british colonies, because boxing had such a strong uh tradition in britain, and that was something that they brought over and we’ll call it one of the few positive things that They left behind then uh when they, when they finally did we’ll call one of the few positive things, was a strong boxing tradition and a strong uh and strong training programs, and things like that which obviously they’re developing.
I thought you could say, and a strong cricket program uh well well yeah.
Well, i mean, i think, i think the uh when it comes to cricket, i think the uh, the student has become the master on that one yeah.
Absolutely because i i believe, if you’re, if you’re a cricket player, that’s where you want to be is is playing an indian uh premier league or whatever.
The icc, i believe is the the league yeah.
I mean but yeah so yeah that that’s that’s.
That’S the student becoming the master but they’re not far off in boxing either again like what we’ve been seeing in these tournaments around the world with india’s amateur program and and that does in some way shape or form you have to say, has its roots at least Buried in deep in the in the british system in the in british boxing tradition, that would have been brought over with the army at the time, and you know up until the 1940s, we’re looking at uh would have been ceylon at the time now.
Sri lanka would have been part of that.
Pakistan would have been part of the british raj at the time as well as well as bangladesh, so they all had access not all had equal access.
But we’ll say that that that boxing tradition definitely is prevalent in all of those countries.
It’S just a matter of who still today is carrying on that tradition and who is uh who’s, really holding up their fighters and who’s supporting them and who isn’t right, yep.
Absolutely money makes the world go round yeah all right, so i guess uh.
I guess we have uh friday’s show and then it’s the weekend.
That’S tomorrow.
Still, yes, okay, just making sure that i’m on the right day.
Well, today’s thursday right, i hope so.
Okay, all right! Yes, i meant.
Yes, we just have friday’s show to go, and then it’s the weekend there.
We are all right cool.
Thanks, very much appreciate all that feedback and research that you’ve been doing um and uh.
We will see you tomorrow.
Oh yes, that’s right friday.
We have several shows that’s right, um and thank you to the good viewership for hanging in there and listening to our repartee uh, remember to like share subscribe.
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Thank you very much and again, we’ll see you tomorrow have a good one.
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