Preparations for the Sierra Leone Boxing Association (SLBA)’s 69-kilo heavy weight competition are on high geared ahead of the D Day on April 22.
The competition is pitting Daniel Lasayo from the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) Boxing Team and Abubakarr Katta from the Sierra Leone Police force (SLP) Boxing Team. It is slated for the National stadium Lawn Tennis Arena.
Both boxers have been tagged the country’s best for the past two years.
According to the president of SLBA, Eric Dura Sesay, this is the biggest fight to be organized by the association in the country.
Le25m is at stake, he said, adding that the track record of the fighters means increased interest in it.
Sesay said the competition will serve as a platform for both boxers to help prepare for future international competitions. He said over the past years Sierra Leonean boxers have been performing poorly in international competitions and he said this was because there was no local competition to prepare them.
Sesay said on the sidelines of the big bout some smaller fights will take place, involving junior, senior and intermediate boxers. He assured that his executive will make sure that boxing competitions will be staged locally nationwide.
Abubakarr Katta, who represented Sierra Leone in the 2014 Olympic Games in Glasgow, Scotland, told Politico that this is one of his fights he would love to win, noting that he’d been training for it for the past several months with the help of his manager. When asked if he knew the weakness of his opponent, he replied: “Yes. I known his weakness, but I will not disclose them until the very day.”
This will be the second time the two men will be meeting. They met last month and it ended in a draw.
Daniel Lasayo, a military man who got his boxing training from Quba, said he was well prepared to face his opponent. “This time I am not looking forward for a draw but to give him a heavy punch that will drop him down,” said Lasayo.
(C) Politico 14/04/16
