Papua New Guinea’s professional boxers selected for the King of Ring Challenge in Australia, as part of their preparation bouts leading up to the Olympic Qualifier have pulled out due to personal commitments.
PNG Boxing National Team head coach, Mark Keto in providing an update on his boxers confirmed that John Ume and Jamie Pang will not participate in the Challenge that takes place in two weeks.
Ume and Pang are among four boxers initially selected for the Challenge, the other two are Allen Oaike and Sheila Yama who are prepared to take on the challenge.
Keto said: "John Ume withdrew from the fight citing family commitment... Jamie Pang will not travel with us to because of job commitment.”
Keto said Oaike and Yama, who is New Zealand-based, will be bouting at the event. Both fighters did well at the 2023 Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands with Yama winning Gold Medal and Oaike suffered defeat in the semifinals. They will take the ring with good form.
King of the Ring challenge is one of the preparation events for PNG boxing leading into their Olympic Qualifier in May in Thailand. There are a couple more events, that are expected to take place before the Thailand fight in Ume and Pang could take part.
Meanwhile, Keto shows that sponsorship and funding remain a challenge for boxing PNG; both armature and youth boxers.
He urges corporate entities to throw their support for PNG Boxers during their travel and games as this promotes the sport in the country, as well as gives them opportunities to showcase their skills and talents at the international level and possibly make a living out of the sport.
Keto thanked the PNG Sports Foundation, the PNG Olympics Committee and others for their continued support and commitment towards boxing PNG over the years.