PNG Boxing Union (PNGBU) will be holding a beginners training session tomorrow, Saturday, March 22nd at Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby city, following the request of parents who wish to have their children take up boxing. Skills taught will be the basics of boxing with a focus on hand-eye coordination and correct footwork. With help from national trainer and former PNG representative boxer Jack Willie, the program will be run by Kazu Temu, Head of Referees and Judges (R&J) and an executive member of PNGBU. National Head coach Mark Keto, also a former boxer, will assist wherever he can as he is already heavily involved with PNGBU’s elite program, training the national team for international engagements. Temu explained that they’ll be taught the basic principles of the sport until they switch to more advanced skills. Participants can come in sports footwear; sports attire have their own water bottles for start at 1pm. The session will go until 4pm. According to PNGBU President Dr. Gideon Kendino, the program will first be tested in Port Moresby before being expanded to other regions of the nation once sponsors are willing to contribute funds. He stated that boxers are guided by rigorous practice and observation and the sport instills a high level of discipline. “Boxing is not fighting which is sometimes mixed up with the sport which is violence.” “Because of the strict discipline, boxers will usually refrain from getting into anything that is against the principles of the sport.” “Also, boxers know how to strike correctly so they will walk away knowing that they have the advance of that knowledge which is never to be abused unless faced with a very dangerous life or death situation.” Temu said boxing is also a sport that can become a revenue earner, and it is crucial to learn the sport correctly. While professional boxing in PNG is in its infancy, if the skills are taught correctly at an early age, the boxers can become more successful when they later turn pro. “With due respect to the boxers we have who have moved into professional, the skills are not executed correctly, and it is really the natural talent that becomes PNG boxers. “If they learn the skill correctly and they advance with age and experience, our impact as professional boxers will be better. “At present our boxers have just been used as opponents to promote boxers from the country that hosts them.”