The PNG Boxing Union has commended the four male boxers for their efforts at the Asian Oceania Olympic qualifiers in Qian'an, China.
President, John Avira said the four – Andrew Aisaga in the 69kg division, Charles Keama 52kg, Thadius Katua 60kg and Jonathan Keama 75kg had represented the country with pride.
“Do not be discouraged by the results. You gave it your best shot against some of the best boxers in the world,” said Avira.
Avira said while the team didn’t qualify any boxers for the Rio Olympics, their campaign sent out a clear message that the region has to do some re-adjustments for the future if Oceania wants to be part of the Olympic Games.
He said that in the past, the Oceania Boxing Confederation which includes Australia, New Zealand conducted its own event to qualify boxers for the Olympics.
“The change to combine with Asia deprived Oceania of its quotas for places that is accorded to each continent.
“All of our boxers lost their preliminary bouts on points at the qualifiers.
“Charles and Jonathan represented PNG at the Oceania championships last year in Melbourne and if the qualification status were the same as previous years, both boxers would have qualified and be now preparing to represent PNG at the Rio Olympics in August,” said Avira.
He added that Charles won gold in the 52kg division to be ranked number 1 in the region while Jonathan won a silver medal which would have qualified them both for the Olympics.
“We (Oceania) may seem insignificant compared to the other bigger continents but the Olympics is not just about the best attending the event.
“It is a global event and participation is equally important especially for us smaller countries, who do not enjoy the kind of resources that these big countries have,” said Avira.