WINDHOEK – Namibia’s leading boxing trainer and continental award winning promoter, Nestor ‘Sunshine’ Tobias, bemoans the country’s lack of medals at high-profile competitions, notably the just ended Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, where Namibia only managed a silver medal.
Light welterweight boxer, Junius Jonas, stumbled at the last hurdle missing out on the prestigious gold medal and had to be satisfied with silver.
Tobias questions the wisdom of those at the helm of the national sports bodies to take just four boxers in the travelling entourage to the United Kingdom, charging Namibia has lots of talented amateur boxers who are capable of winning medals at august events, irrespective of the colour.
“From what I believe, boxing authorities dispatched a significant number of boxers to Cuba for preparation and I’m very curious to know what happened to those boxers. We have good talent in the amateur ranks but for some strange reason, the selection criteria leave much to desired,” Tobias said.
The internationally acclaimed boxing guru is adamant Namibia has enough boxers adding that sending four boxers in Glasgow was insufficient.
“Speaking broadly, Namibia has the required pedigree and should have easily entered boxers in each of the categories at stake – a practice that could have increased our chances of winning more medals.”
The sharp-tongued boxing promoter expresses the hope that Namibia has now learned from its mistakes such as the lukewarm showing in Glasgow.
By Carlos Kambaekwa