NAMIBIAN boxing official Fillemon Mweya was awarded an international diploma after passing a test at the World Boxing Council’;s annual convention in Kiev, Ukraine this week.
Mweya attended a referee and judges workshop which covered topics like scoring theory, judging criteria, knock downs and knock outs and successfully completed a written exam to be awarded his diploma.
“Now I am an international referee and judge. This is a great achievement in my life, I had these dreams for too long but now they have finally come true,” an ecstatic Mweya told The Namibian Sport.
Mweya said many seminars and workshops took place while the WBO also implemented some innovations with the aim of cleaning up boxing.
“With the Clean Boxing Programme, the champion of each division plus the first fifteen-ranked boxers must agree to random year round anti-doping tests, or be dropped from the ratings,” he said.
“There is also a historic change in the weigh-in system. From next year, there will be thirty-, fourteen- and seven-day weigh-ins before a fight, while overweight limits of 10 percent, five percent and three percent will be accepted. Then on the fight day, there will be another weigh-in,” he added.
According to Mweya, more than 700 people have been attending the convention which was opened by former WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, who is now the mayor of Kiev.
“The WBC annual convention is the biggest show on earth, with the best champions and the biggest attendance. The temperatures in Kiev beside the mighty Dnieper River are plummeting, but the welcome that all the WBC delegates received couldn’;t have been warmer,” he said.
“I had a chance to brief the WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman about the future and developments of boxing in Namibia and he was very happy that I was able to represent my country at the convention. I also met many boxing greats like Vitali Klitschko, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, Amir Khan and Shawn Porter,” he added.
Mweya said his visit would benefit boxing in Namibia.
“I really put Namibia on the map and in future our country will benefit a lot; they also encouraged us to produce more world champions,” he said.
Mweya thanked his sponsors Air Namibia, Solitaire Press, Green Enterprise Solution, Embalangandy and Investment CC, and Sono Ashipala for making his trip possible.”
