Moroka ready for regional boxing challenge

NELSON DIRENG
Correspondent | Friday November 26, 2010 00:00

 

His immediate task is to put together an executive committee to replace the one dissolved early this month.

Moroka doubles as president of the Botswana Boxing Association (BOBA). He told Mmegi Sport that the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) has requested that the regional committee be functional by January next year. The Zone VI committee was dissolved by AIBA in order to transform Africa into one region with four sub-regions in the north, east, western and south. Zone VI (south) has grown to include 14 countries after the addition of Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius and the Comoros Islands.

Moroka said he has sent letters to member states inviting them to a conference in Botswana early next month.

'So far there are some who have confirmed while others have not,' he said. Moroka said apart from discussing the formation of the executive committee, the meeting will be used to address general boxing problems in the region. He said his proposal will be to have a secretary from Botswana. He asserted that one of the major reasons the Zone VI committee has not been successful is that it has officials scattered across the region. 'A local (Botswana-based) secretary would be convenient as it would be easier to coordinate the organisation's strategies effectively,' he said.

Moroka said he will visit member states next year to assess their boxing standards. He is worried that boxing standards in the region are deteriorating, a factor he attributed to poor management.

'Most countries in our region have a problem of frequently changing their executive committee members and this in turn affects the standard of boxing. One of our mandates is to introduce a new law where member states would have to formulate constitutions that would align to the Zone IV regulations in order to prevent such instances,' he said.

Moroka said the formation of a new zone with more member states is an advantage to the region as it raises the level of competition. He said that countries such as Mauritius and Seychelles are powerhouses in amateur boxing.

'This is an advantage to other countries in the region as the merger means there would be more competition,' he said.

BOBA spokesperson, Willoughby Kemoen said he expects a lot from the proposed regional committee. He hopes it creates competitions for youth and clubs in the region to raise the level of boxing as focus would be placed on development. 'Clubs such as Phikwe's Eastern Military Garrison (EMG) have won local tournaments and it is essential to measure their level of performance based on how they compete with other countries,' he said.

Moroka's brief profileMoroka started active involvement in boxing in 1987 when he helped form the Botswana Diamond Value Company Boxing Club. He was later recruited as an official in the club but left in 1988 to train as a referee. He was appointed national referee in 1988. In 1990, he was promoted to continental referee. He became an international referee in 1993. From then, AIBA appointed him to officiate in many international bouts and trained him further.

Last year, Moroka was honoured with a Three-Star, the highest referee rank. He was then promoted to become a referee trainer. He retired from refereeing this year, which paved way for his appointment as president of BOBA. Moroka has been acting president of the Zone VI committee before he took full charge of the newly-formed Zone IV Confederation.