Indonesian Olympic boxers fit for competition: Doctor

JAKARTA (JP): The physical fitness of the five-man Indonesian Olympic boxing team is good by athletes' standard, sports medical doctor Suhantoro said yesterday.

"Certainly they are fitter than an average person. But some clearly have better fitness than others," Suhantoro said, declining to mention names. Suhantoro announced his observation after administering a series of fitness tests to the boxers. He said it will take him half an hour to analyze the test results of each boxer.

The five boxers tested yesterday are La Paene Masara (48kg), Hermensen Ballo (51kg), Hendrik Simangunsong (71kg), Nemo Bahari (57kg) and Pino Bahari (75kg).

The tests, given at the National Sports Council's headquarters, measures endurance in two modes, volume of maximum oxygen intake and maximum pulse rate.

Athletes are expected to take in oxygen at a maximum rate of 55 to 60 millimeters per each kilogram of their weights per minute.

The only Indonesian athlete known to have had a very excellent oxygen intake was Icuk Sugiarto, men's singles champion at the 1983 World Badminton Championships. His oxygen intake during the championships was 72, prompting the championships' doping control committee to test him twice for banned drugs usage.

Maximum pulse rate is good by athlete's standard, Suhantoro said, if it is equal to 170 per minute.

A boxer with a maximum pulse rate of 170, which means that he is still in the aerobic mode, should still be able to perform continuous training exercises. In boxing, this translates into sufficient fitness to defend and attack within a two-minute round of a five-round bout. Thus, Suhantoro said, knowing each individual boxer's maximum pulse rate is important to determine the amount of training that would be ideal for them.

Of the five boxers tested yesterday, Hermensen Ballo was the only one who was tested for brain damage. Coach John F. Wane said Ballo had complained of having a headache after fighting in an amateur Asian boxing championship in Bangkok in February.

Coach Daniel Bahari, who trains his own sons, Pino and Nemo Bahari, said he could only hope that the Atlanta Olympic boxing draw would pit his sons against minnow opponents in preliminary contests and against stronger opponents in the subsequent bouts.

Daniel said that despite their rigorous training regime, his sons were presently fit to fight for just two bouts. Daniel hopes that their stints in Uzbekistan (Apr. 18 to May 23) and Cuba (May 25 to July 10) would make them fit enough to survive a six-bout campaign. To win an Olympic boxing competition fighters have to compete in a total of five bouts. (arf)