Are we looking for the killer punch
View(s):An immensely popular game, boxing has always captured the imagination of the Lankan sports  loving public, and the case is topped by the fact that there is participation of both sexes though is a rough and tumble physical sport.  The irony is that though we have had some international success in the past, we seems to have dropped our standards off the guard in the recent past. At the same time unlike many other sports it has backers like Dian Gomes who has taken the crusade his own fight and is unafraid of the challenges in front of them. So let us read how we are going to take the sport of boxing to the next phase.
Anusha Kodituwakku
(Sri Lanka boxer)
There is a long history of boxing in Sri Lanka. But it was under the guidance of former ABA President Dian Gomes (MAS Holdings) that the sport took a new dimension in the country. Boxing which started in a small way has now spread across all parts of the country and has a huge following among the schools, clubs, private sector police and the tri-forces. It was the former administration under the supervision of Dian Gomes that was able to make a huge difference in the country. I have reached this standard purely because of the efforts put in by the Dian Gomes administration. I have never done boxing at school and my favourite sport at school was athletics. I got involved in the sport due to the encouragement provided by MAS Holdings. I think MAS Holdings has provided us with everything which is required for a sportsman/sportswoman and some of the help which even the government sector cannot afford to provide. The former boxing administration had a vision for the sport but sadly we cannot see the same with the current set of officials. This is the main reason that Sri Lanka has struggled to win medals at international level. We have plenty of talented boxers who have the potential of winning a medal at the highest level. As there are several shortcomings with the administration we are unable to produce the same form as we did ten years ago. Although we have some very good coaches in the country, for some reason we have not won any medals at international level in the recent past. However, I actually cannot point out one particular area where we have gone wrong in uplifting the standard of the sport. But one is for sure that our boxers are not very much committed as it was in the case of some former national competitors. I think in any sport one needs to make a commitment of 75 percent to succeed on the international stage. But sadly I do not see this kind of commitment from the current boxers. We cannot achieve success merely because we have a good coach in the country. In other countries there are several others who are always there to back the boxers in addition to the coach. They are namely medical doctor, physiotherapist and the counsellor. But in Sri Lanka today the coach is the only person who is behind the competitors. I think the competitors should be more committed towards the sport. Usain Bolt of Jamaica and Susanthika Jayasinghe are two classic examples as both achieved success through some real commitment. Overall I think the standard of boxing is now at a very low ebb in Sri Lanka. We have the resources to make an impact in the sport although we are not winning medals like China, India and Thailand at the moment. I think, we are not making use of sports science for the betterment of boxing in  Sri Lanka.
Nishantha Dharmadasa
(International Boxing Referee)
We had some talented boxers who won medals for our country in the past and there are a few more who are capable of winning medals at international tournaments. Also we have a good administrative system at the moment. We also have very good sponsors coming forward to support the sport. However, we do not have a proper development plan to make progress. I think the boxers and the administrators need to make sacrifices if they are to achieve better results in the international arena. This is where we have lost our way. We won several Gold Medals, Silver Medals and Bronze Medals at the 1991 South Asian Games (SAG) held in Colombo. Thereafter, we had great success at the 1991 SAG in Kathmandu, Nepal. We were able to achieve these results because the boxers worked hard and trained for six months continuously. Now 18 years have passed and we are still struggling to win a Gold Medal at a SAG. This is a clear indication that we could march forward if we have a clear plan and work hard well in advance of the tournament. I think there are three ingredients that we need to focus on if we 
are to produce a champion boxer. The number one aspect is that we should have a good coach. We cannot think about winning a medal without the proper training and the technique. The second aspect is that we should have a good administration. There should be a proper development plan if any sport is to make any headway in the international scene. The third aspect which we should focus on is on a qualified referee. I think the future of any boxer depends on the judgment of a good referee. A bad decision could entirely ruin the career of a boxer. The coaches should take the blame for the drop in the standard of boxing in Sri Lanka in the recent past. This is because most of the coaches concentrate on the players and the clubs rather than focussing on the national level. I think if all coaches think in this way we will certainly have a very good future. We have seen in tournaments where the clubs use to field two teams namely their ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams for competition. We have seen the players who represent the ‘B’ team tend to knock-out their opponents without using the proper techniques. This is not a good sign for the sport. Also we do not have a boxing nursery. We should select a squad of players from Under-15 to 17 and train them for a period of four years. Then we will be able to produce good results during the next 10 years. We always tend to target the Commonwealth Games to win medals. But we all know that not all top countries compete in the Commonwealth Games. We need to target more on the Asian Games and the World Championships. I think the best administration in boxing was when Dian Gomes was the President of the ABA. There was a huge turnaround in the sport among the schools, clubs, private sector Police and the tri-forces. Anurudda Ratnayake (2008 Olympic Games direct participant) and Manju Wanniarachchi (2010 Commonwealth Games Medallist) are two good examples for the excellent administration during that period. We also have some very good boxing referees at the moment. We have included the boxing referees to three categories. They are first star, second star and third star. We have referees in all three categories. But we are lacking in the coaching department and we need to get down foreign coaches. We tend to get down coaches from Cuba. But we shoukd try to get down coaches from countries like Kazakhstan.
Opalle Gnanasiri Thera
(Principal Vidyarathna University College Horana)
I am proud to say that we have produced a number of outstanding junior boxers into the national team. We have been performing this act now for the past 16 years. We have also won every major title which is on offer including the T. B. Jayah Meet, L. V. Jayaweera Meet and the Layton Cup Meet. We have produced over 70 boxers to the national squad. Those who are now representing the tri-forces and MAS Holdings are all proud products of Vidyarathna University College. We have allocated a total of Rs. 1.2 million annually for the development of boxing. We do not receive any support from the state as we are considered a semi-government institution. But we have managed to keep the sport alive through the assistance of public funds, oldboys and MAS Holdings. We also have to look after the well being of the boxing coaches. We possess the best boxing ring in the Kalutara District. As a result all boxers from the other schools also patronize our boxing ring. The Education Ministry does not provide any support for the promotion of boxing among the schools. Dian Gomes has always helped us in the past and in the present to make progress in the sport. In fact, Gomes and MAS Holdings have given us material and financial assistance whenever needed. We can definitely make progress in boxing. The only obstacle I see is the interference of the referees. The sport has been destroyed by these referees through some biased decisions at local events. I can also say that some of the referees are pressurizing the competitors during tournaments. So far no official has come forward to solve this issue. The coaches are also in a spot of bother due to this incident. We see some unqualified referees officiating at some of the major events in the country. Some of the boxers have even given up because of these controversial decisions handed by the referees. But we have some talented coaches in the country.
Dian Gomes
(Former President Amateur Boxing  Association (ABA) of Sri Lanka and
current Vice-President)
Boxing is one sport in which Sri Lanka has the potential of winning a medal at international level. But sadly the sport has declined in the recent past and the current impression is not so impressive. We have to accept that there has been a huge setback where the overall standard of the sport is concerned. We have to soon rectify this and try to bring the sport back into the international standard. In fact, we have already drawn up our a plan to develop the game in the country. Our next main goal is the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia. We are determined to win a medal at this event and we have a set plan to achieve that target. We will next target the Olympic Games in Japan in 2020. We have identified the events in which we are capable of winning a medal. The selected events are 48kg, 52kg, 56kg and 60kg. We have also selected a few events in the women’s category. We cannot think about winning an Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, Olympic medal or a World Championship medal just because we had success at the South Asian Games (SAG). There is a huge gap between the SAG and any other international meet. The competitors should also be able to make sacrifices if we are to win an international medal. I think, there is hardly any support from the Sports Ministry for the promotion of the sport. We have enough talented boxers around the country but unfortunately we are lacking in funds. We need to spend at least a minimum of Rs. 20 million for a year for the development of boxing in the country. We have to look for these funds through the courtesy of sponsors from the private sector. We have presented a development plan for the next two years to the Sports Ministry while targeting the Commonwealth Games and the next SAG. We hope that the Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera will provide us a favourable reply for this plan. We have not received any financial assistance from the government for the past 15 years. We do have an official sponsor but their contribution is only Rs. 4 million for a year. This is hardly sufficient to manage our budgets. As a result we are compelled to depend on the private sector for our survival. We also need to enhance our technical skills with foreign expertise. At the moment the National boxers are under the guidance of Cuban coaches. But our coach has now returned to his country and we are hoping to get down another coach from Cuba. We are also lacking in international exposure and as a result we are unable to spot the talented boxers in the country. We cannot be satisfied merely in looking at local competitions. We have a plan to restructure boxing in the country inside the next six months. I was the President of the ABA for eight years. Now I am functioning as a Vice-President. I think you do not need to be the President of the association to support the sport in the country. I have no idea of coming back to serve the ABA as the President. We do not need positions to support the sport but anyone who loves boxing could come and help us.  