Will Nemo change his mind to quit boxing?

By Arif Suryobuwono

JAKARTA (JP): An earthen vessel does not ask the potter, "Why did you make me like this?" says the Bible. Certainly, no one can resist the hands of the Creator. But can a man be justified in abandoning a mold which has given him a great shape?

Nemo Michael Bahari, recently declared the Best Boxer of this year's President's Cup amateur boxing tournament, has decided to hang up his gloves -- for good.

"Boxing is too hard for me. It's against my inner conscious ness. It won't do me any good if I force myself. Hence, I have decided to finish with this sport forever," the soft-spoken 21- year-old said in a television interview last week.

"If Nemo really means it, it will be a great loss, not only to national but also to Southeast Asian boxing," executive director of the Indonesian Amateur Boxing Association (Pertina), Imron Z.S., told The Jakarta Post.

Chairman of the National Sports Council, Wismoyo Arismunandar, spent more than half an hour during a dinner party speech trying to persuade Nemo to reverse his decision.

The entire speech, in which Arismunandar was supposed to be a commending Pertina on its success in organizing the six-day President's Cup tournament, was, in effect, personally addressed to Nemo, a student of architecture.

At the end of his speech, Wismoyo stepped down from the rostrum, put his hand on Nemo's head and told him, "You are my son; you are the nation's son," before turning to all the other boxers in the room and saying, "All of you are the nation's sons."

Nemo is widely regarded as Indonesia's most talented boxer. "If continuously exposed to the right training, this kid can one day become a world champion," Pertina's head coach, Isidiro Trotman of Cuba, was quoted by Imron as saying.

Nemo's father and coach, Daniel Bahari, refers to him as "both born and made to be a great boxer."

Nemo's Best Boxer title in the just-concluded 17th President's Cup tournament, in which 18 countries took part, is his second in a row.

Imron, who is also vice president of the Federation of the Asian Amateur Boxing and one of the judges, spoke of Nemo in glowing terms.

"A panel of judges from China, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia and Australia decided Nemo deserved the title. Unlike the other gold medalists, who faced some minnow opponents on their way to the medal, Nemo's opponents -- from the preliminary to the final rounds -- were the toughest offered by the tournament; yet, he always won."

The President's Cup is one of the three tournaments in Asia sanctioned by the world amateur boxing body AIBA. The other two are Thailand's King's Cup and the Philippines' Mayor's Cup. These three tournaments, alone among Asian boxing meets, affect boxers' world rankings.

Considerate boxer

Nemo's style and philosophy of boxing are unique. His final President's Cup bout against Filipino Vincente Galido on Aug. 31, which he won 18-5, was a beautiful demonstration of the art of war in the ring.

In the early rounds, the gentle-looking Nemo adopted an evasive approach which brought Galido's attack-mindedness into full swing and at the same time subtly drained the Filipino's strength.

The strategy might seem conservative and time-wasting, as the points climbed very slowly, but it paved the way for Nemo to deliver some marvelous finishing blows. As the fourth round slowly came to an end and the fifth and final round began, the ratio of six to four points was rapidly transformed into 18 to five, sealing Nemo's convincing win.

"I don't want to hurt my opponent," Nemo says of his approach to boxing. Of course, his mind is always focused on winning the bout, but Nemo has an unusual attitude. "I want to win the game in such a way that my opponent does not feel he's beaten," he says.

"In boxing, I'm concerned with winning purely on the basis of tactics, not on the basis of any physical advantage. And I always find myself in search of the most beautiful strategy to employ," he adds.

Nemo's knowledge of boxing has not come from books. The only book on boxing he has ever read was one on the sport's history. He is not even familiar with Sun Tzu's The Art of War.

"I learn boxing from my father. I just follow his instruc tions. I owe my victory to him," Nemo said of his President's Cup win.

Nemo trains regularly for one hour each day at home. When preparing for an important tournament, he usually spends two hours training.

Serving God

How can he drop the sport which has brought him so much success and admiration?

"When my father first introduced me to boxing -- I was 12 then -- I liked it very much. But now, I have realized that this sport is not for me. My father's training programs are demanding. I don't think I am physically strong enough to follow them," he says.

"Moreover, I'm not mentally prepared for the increasingly tough competitions which would lie in store for me as I got closer to the spotlight of international boxing.

"I would not have competed in this President's Cup tournament if my grandmother had not persuaded me to."

Daniel thought Nemo's reason for quitting was that he was fed up with the constant friction between his Daniel and Pertina. The conflict was over Daniel's unwillingness to let Pertina train Nemo and his brother Pino, a Beijing Asian Games gold medalist. But the conflict is over now.

Some people, including Pertina's secretary-general Didiet Soedijoto, perceived Nemo's decision to quit boxing as a sign that he prefers his studies to his boxing career. Others say he wants to drop boxing Indonesian amateur boxing is not financially rewarding.

The real reason is simple though it may come as a surprise to many. "I long to serve God," Nemo told the Post in a whisper. He gave the reporter a searching look, as if to ensure that what he was being taken seriously.

Nemo plans to be studying the Bible at a theological school in Malang, East Java, by the middle of this month. That will mean deferring his architecture studies for one year.

"I began to feel the call after my two-month stint in Cuba last year, during which I read nothing but the Bible," he said.

Resistance

"And I have told my father about this. He said it was up to me. But I don't really know whether he is for or against my decision. But I have made up my mind. I'll try my best to be faithful to the decision," he added.

In the first instance, Daniel, himself a Christian, expressed neither support nor opposition to his son's decision: "He is 21. He should choose his own path in life," he said shortly after Nemo made his announcement.

Later, however, it became clear that he does not want to accept his son's decision. Looking his son from afar, an emotional Daniel told reporters, "I held him in my arms and we watched boxing matches together when he was small; I brought him up with a burning desire to see him become a great boxer; I trained him, disciplined him, I ... Shouldn't he remember all those days?"

The nation's boxing hopes were being piled on Nemo as well.

Pertina's chairman, Paul Toding, appealed to Nemo to "please give us a gold medal in the upcoming Southeast Asian Games (slated for Dec. 9 to Dec. 17 in Chiang Mai, Thailand) and also in the Olympic Games in Atlanta next year."

Wismoyo speaks of Nemo's "sin of not accepting God's gift of great boxing talent which has been bestowed to him."

Confronted with such pressure, will Nemo change his mind? The answer may be apparent from what Nemo says is his favorite biblical verse -- Paul's letter to the Romans chapter eight, verse 28:

"We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose."