Promoters groups won't break from pro boxing body: Tourino
Promoters groups won't break from pro boxing body: Tourino
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The six-year suspension imposed by the World Boxing Council (WBC)
has dealt the Indonesian professional boxing community a big
overhand haymaker, but they appear to be indifferent to making
any changes or putting pressure on those supposedly responsible
for the sanctions.
Such a disdainful attitude was at least shown by the
Indonesian Pro-Boxing Promoters' Association (Gaprotin) when it
held a meeting here on Wednesday.
"I don't see any reason any more to carry out my threat to
break away from KTI," Tourino Tidar, Gaprotin chairman, said
after the meeting.
It was under KTI (Indonesian Boxing Commission) that the
poorly organized boxing organization oversaw five ring deaths
over the past 18 months and a subsequent six-month international
suspension.
Although there has not been any announcement nor findings as
to who should be held responsible for the deaths, KTI has already
been essentially called "guilty" on the assumption that it had
failed to avert the tragic deaths.
The breakaway threat was one of the two main points Tourino
raised in the meeting on Monday with a number of officials of ATI
(Indonesian Boxing Association), which is KTI's rival.
The other point Tourino made at a Dec. 10 meeting was that he
was determined not to work under KTI any longer as promoter.
"I will tell PABA that I will not hold a contest under KTI any
more," Tourino said at the time. He was visibly running out of
patience with KTI chairman Anthon Sihombing.
PABA (Pan Asia Boxing Association) is an affiliation of WBA,
which Tourino has turned to after his parting with OPBF.
Tourino then accused Anthon of having given false testimony in
his explanatory speech at the WBC convention in Pattaya,
Thailand.
KTI has claimed that it has made safety improvements in boxing
matches in the country, but did not make them public apparently.
Gaprotin, which was founded in 1984, is home to 120 promoters.
"We are going to take our stance with KTI in our congress next
year. Today is just a consultative meeting," Tourino said.
Government official Toho Cholic Mutohir and his aide Iskandar
also attended the "consultative meeting".
During the meeting Gaprotin demanded its detachment from any
linkage to the death of the five young men.
"There have been false rumors going around that promoters
should be held responsible for the deaths. That's not true. My
members don't have authority in assessing whether a boxer is
medically cleared for the fight," he said while employing a
decent duck and weave technique.
"Our job is to ensure that the administration, financial and
insurance affairs are done," he countered, adding that his
organization was supportive of the plan to set up an
investigating team for the boxing deaths.