LAGOS – The Nigeria Boxing Federation (NBF) has invited 30 boxers to its Abuja camp, in preparation for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
The games, scheduled for Glasgow, Scotland from July 23 to Aug. 3, would feature 6, 500 athletes and officials in 17 sports.
Speaking on the federation’s readiness, Tony Konyegwachi, NBF’s Head Coach, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on telephone that the boxers commenced camping for the tournament on Tuesday.
Konyegwachi, who was in charge of the training said only dependable boxers capable of making appreciable marks in the competition were called to camp.
“The three-week compact session which will end on July 24 will enable the boxers shape-up properly into the federation’s plan for the Commonwealth Games.
“The selected boxers are class champions of different national tournaments in the recent past,” the coach said.
According to him, the numbers of the boxers were pruned from its original 43 to 30, to allow the crew to concentrate on only those that had a comparative edge.
Konyegwachi said the federation’s aim was to use the competition to re-brand Nigerian boxing.
“The inability of our representatives at the 2012 London Olympics to win a medal cast a gloomy picture on the NBF and Nigerian boxing.
“The federation’s matching order now is to change the belief by winning in Glasgow,” Konyegwachi added. (NAN)
