The ad hoc management of boxing in Fiji is fast going out the door, says the country's top administrator.
Fiji Boxing Commission chairman Subhash Appana believes systems are now put in place to revive the flagging sport.
Fiji once produced a series of good quality boxers such as Sakaraia Ve, Leweni Waqa, Jo Nadumu, Wate Nacagilevu, Kamisese Vaubula, Mike Ravula, Marika Binatagi, Vereniki Raiwalui and Alipate Korovou.
Those days seem to be distant memories.
Nevertheless, Appana believes good times are in store for the sport if everyone pulls together and play their role - from the boxers up to the government.
Financial constraints have been a major hurdle and have affected what the Commission has wanted to do since 2019.
But with a positive mindset Appana and the Commission are confident things can turn around.
Management rules
Fiji Boxing Commission chairman Subhash Appana Photo: Subhash Appana
"We've been working at it for the past three plus years And I think what we saw in the last programme in Suva, which was on the 25th of March, clearly showed that we have come a long way from when we started in September 2019," Appana told Pacific Waves.
"We have on board three active promoters and a fourth application is on the table. When we joined there were only two promoters.
"With the increased number of promoters, we're hoping that there will be healthy competition among them so that it leads to lifting of standards and a better value for money for fight fans.
"On the administrative front, we have put in place a whole system of management, the governance structure has been tightened and fine-tuned. The financial management part of it has also been straightened out.
"We've got processes in place, processes that we can follow, straight out rules to be followed," Appana explained.
"So it's no longer the ad hoc environment in which we entered. It's now a very structured and well-managed, well-governed sort of set up that that is now being used to manage Fiji boxing."
That includes rules for promoters to follow, like having to pay for a date they want to book for their promotion.
This has been put in place because of past problems where some promoters would try to sabotage another promotion by staging shows on the same date or just before the date booked by another promoter. Or book a date then withdraw a week before the event.
That was a big problem.
"So what we did is we said 'okay, since you want to lock in a date, you pay a fee'. So they are now paying a fee to lock in a date. If they drop that date, they forfeit that money," Appana said.
Promoters now can't hold boxing programmes with dates close to each other.
That gives time for boxers to prepare and also for fans to budget their spending as they would have to pay for tickets to the programmes.
If two promotions are held within a week they would have to be held in two different locations in different parts of the country.
"Like for example, if one is in Nadi, we can have one within a week or two weeks in Suva that we can accommodate," Appana said.
To assist promoters the Commission has also put in place a tentative calendar of events that can help.
Communication has also been strengthened, with promoters now having to work through emails instead of just the normal telephone calls in the past.
"We've had to force them to communicate with us via email first. If we don't respond within 24 hours, then only they can call us by phone. Before they would just call us and demand this and that, without giving us the time to look at their request.
"That was one of the reasons why we had adhocism within boxing because promoters just used to call and expect immediate decisions. If you don't give them immediate decisions they sulk if they don't like it. And then if the dislikes escalate they take it to social media and we come under pressure."
Promoters and boxers
Former professional fighter Marika Binatagi Photo: Supplied
The Commission now requires that promoters, trainers and boxing clubs are registered with them so they can keep track of what is happening.
"The boxers are registered, not all trainers are registered, not all clubs are registered. We have been struggling to work on that. But now we've mandated the promoters that if they bring in boxers, they need to make sure he or she is registered and make sure the club is registered.
"We will not accept boxers or trainers who are not registered. To some extent that has sort of helped us in getting the registrations going, and it's still in process," Appana added.
A check on the Commission's website revealed there are 17 boxing clubs registered with them - 12 from the Western Division, three from the Northern Division and two from the Central Division.
Appana said the Commission has not been able to assist trainers and boxers because of the lack of financial assistance.
Government grants earmarked for them was $FJ30,000 a year but since 2020 they had only received $30,000 covering the last three years, instead of the $90,000 they should have received.
"That meant that we were extremely tight. And we couldn't make any trips or provide any assistance for clubs. We have been struggling even to call a trainer's meeting or a promoter's meeting."
Recently, a top trainer said Fijian boxers should be better prepared for bouts before stepping into the ring if boxing fans are to back the sport.
Former Suva and Nadi boxing trainer Lepani Wilson believed some boxers at a show in March were not up to standard.
Boxrec.com, the definitive rankings website for the global sport, lists fighters such as cruiserweight Alivereti Kauyaca (6-0-1), and light-middleweight Jese Ravudi (15-4) as among the country's top prospects.
And with the global increase in interest in women's boxing, there are now far more female fighters coming out of Fiji.
While there were attempts in the late 80s and early 90s to lure females into the boxing ring, the interest has been minimal over the years.
Appana belives this can increase, with the new system and procedures in place.
Respect for rules
Despite the challenges, Appana is confident there are better days ahead for Fiji boxing in general.
"I think a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of the fuel that drives Fiji boxing, for boxing in general comes from having promotions that are interesting, professionally run that catch the eye of the public," he said.
He said the biggest challenge they faced in the beginning of their term was the lack of trust and respect for the Commission. This is something he said they have overcome.
The biggest challenge now is for people to respect the rules that are now in place.
"The biggest challenge is for people to respect the rules that we put in place, to respect or understand the need for the rules. And if they do not understand why the rules are there, they can always email us and we will explain. In fact, when they ask us, we will then post it on our Facebook page so that everybody learns from it," Appana said.
"Everybody thinks they know everything. But the thing here is that no, we cannot work within an environment of advocacy, where everybody is expecting different kinds of outcomes from the same kinds of problems.
"These rules have been put in place for the betterment of boxing. These rules are here because they have helped boxing move forward or boxing move to higher levels and have boxing athletes standards and its quality."
Judges and referees
The Commission has put in place an appraisal process for judges and referees, which is done after every promotion.
This, Appana said, would be a critical part of development and ensures that the best are selected for the right roles.
"One of the things that we identified was that our referees and judges were not consistent. they were times when they really let us down. So these are the kinds of things that we looked at and we have clearly worked out who our better referees are and who are better at judging."
Appana said Fiji boxing fans deserve to get their money's worth when they pay to be at boxing promotions so the onus therefore is on trainers and boxers to be up to par.
And for the Commission to ensure everyone is playing their role.
That way only can there be a real revival that will last the test of time.
