Nemo quits boxing despite getting trophy

JAKARTA (JP): Nemo Bahari, who was declared Best Boxer at the conclusion of the 17th President's Cup international boxing tournament on Thursday, has quit boxing forever.

"This sport is too hard for me. It's against my inner consciousness. It won't do me any good to force myself. It will be good for me if I'm not involved in that sport again," Nemo said on ANteve television yesterday.

"It's up to him. He's 21. He has the right to choose his own path in life," Nemo's coach and father, Daniel Bahari, told The Jakarta Post.

The other reason Nemo gave for quitting was that he did not feel sufficiently physically fit for such a rigorous sport as boxing.

"That's not true," Daniel said, "Physical fitness can be improved through correct training methods."

The real reason for the decision, according to Daniel, was that Nemo was fed up with the constant friction between his father and the Indonesian Amateur Boxing Association (Pertina).

The conflict was over Daniel's unwillingness to allow his sons (Nemo and his middleweight brother Pino, a Beijing Asian Games gold medalist) to join Pertina's centralized training program in Jakarta.

Daniel argued that he was competent to coach his sons and that there was no need to hand them over to Pertina. "I passed as the second best" in a three-month coaching course given here in 1974 by Thomas Lee Johnson, the former head coach of the United States Olympic Games team, he said.

Pertina maintained that, as a rule, all national boxers, including the Bahari brothers, must follow Pertina's program. A tug-of-war resulted in which Pertina made incessant threats to exclude Nemo and Pino from all boxing tournaments, both at home and abroad, if they refused to abide by the rule.

"They (Pertina) don't seem to realize that those threats damaged my sons, psychologically," Daniel said. He added that he would try to persuade Nemo not to hang up his gloves before defending Indonesia at the Southeast Asian Games in Chiang Mai in December.

But Nemo told reporters that, if he forced himself to play at the Chiang Mai Games, he doubted whether he would be able to do his best; if his heart was not in the sport anymore.

Pertina's secretary-general Didit Soedijoto regretted Nemo's decision but he can understand if Nemo prefers pursuing his study more seriously to boxing.

Nemo's bout against Filipino opponent Vincente Galido on Thursday, which he won 18-5, was a beautiful demonstration of the art of war in boxing. As the Best Boxer of the tournament, the 21-year-old featherweight champion was awarded the President Cup trophy, saving face for Indonesia as the country lost the Overall Title and the Best Team title, both of which went to the Philippines.

This year's tournament was the second time Nemo, an architecture student, has won the Best Boxer title. (arf)

Selected points table

1. The Philippines 28 points 2. Russia 22 points 3. Australia 22 points 4. Indonesia (Rajawali) 19 points

Medals tally G S B Title winner 3 1 1 (best team) 3 1 2 (consolation boxer) 2 2 3 (favorite boxer) 1 2 3 (best boxer)

Final results

Lightflyweight: Hermensen Ballo (Ina) bt La Paene Masara (Ina) on points. Flyweight: Rachman Kili-kili (Ina) bt Yoo Ji-yoon on a Referee Stop Contest Out of Class in the 2nd round. Bantamweight: Anthony Igusquisa (Phi) bt Rico Maspaitella (Ina) on a Referee Stop Contest Head in the 3rd round. Featherweight: Nemo Bahari (Ina) bt Vincente Galido (Phi) on points. Lightweight: Alexander Maletin (Rus) bt Yan Jiang-ning (Chn) on points. Lightwelterweight: Reynaldo Galido (Phi) bt Jerry T. Legras (Sey) on points. Welterweight: Ronald Chavez (Phi) bt Richard A. Rowles (Aus) on points. Lightmiddleweight: David Birchell (Aus) bt Vissarion Jaboev (Rus) on points. Middleweight: Justann Crawford (Aus) bt Mohamed Bahari (Alg) on points. Lightheavyweight: Roland B. Raforme (Sey) bt Samuela Leuii (Nzl) on points. Heavyweight: Daniel Rowsell (Aus) bt Sergei Kokev (Rus) on points. Superheavyweight: Andrei Moiseev (Rus) bt Padfaii Falamoe (Nzl) on points.