Kota Kinabalu: Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Shahelmey Yahya called on more systematic approaches to be implemented in boxing.
He said this at the closing of the National Boxing Championship at the Maksak Hall in Likas over the weekend.
“The implementation will have a positive impact and it can in turn produce great boxers and be able to make Malaysia famous in the future,” he said.
He assured the boxing community here that they will continue to get strong support from the State government.
“We will always support all initiatives and good efforts carried out by the Boxing Association both at the state level and at the Federal level to develop the sport to a higher level, especially here in the state of Sabah.
“I understand that half of the boxing participants in this tournament were from Sabah. We have many potential talents and the State Government will continue to support the progress of boxing in the state of Sabah.
“I hope that we will be able to unearth new talents in this tournament to be absorbed into the national boxing team in the future, which will simultaneously give them the opportunity to represent the country.”
He added that he will also be looking into the predicament faced by the boxers with the lack of proper training venue for them. “Boxing officials have also informed us that there is a lack of training facilities, so I will inform the Minister of Youth and Sports and the Chief Minister so that we can implement a better development plan for boxing,” he said.
Also present at the closing ceremony were Malaysia Boxing Federation president Datuk Iruan Zulkefli and Sabah Boxing Association president Datuk Orlando Harumal as well as other top officials.
