Kremlev’s E70k gift for boxing Clubs
MBABANE – Eswatini’s boxing clubs will soon receive boxing equipment ahead of the grand annual boxing event, Eswatini Boxing Day penned for December 26, 2022.
This comes after the Eswatini Boxing Association (EBA) President Webster Lukhele among other African boxing association’s leaders, received about E70 000 (4 000 US Dollars) from the International Boxing Association (IBA) President Umar Kremlev during an event held on Saturday in Mozambique. In October, Kremlev promised to present EBA with 100 pieces of boxing equipment valued at around E100 000. Lukhele said the IBA president decided to distribute the money to the member associates in order to purchase the equipment that they needed.
Proven
After his election in August, Kremlev declared the year 2022 as the year for African boxing and since then, he has continuously proven his support for the African nations, starting with the lucrative prize monies that he had given winners during the African Boxing Confederations (AFBC) Boxing Africa Championships held in Mozambique where for the first time in history, the champions in various categories bagged about E180 000. Also in his own capacity, Kremlev sponsored Eswatini’s national boxer
Thabiso Dlamini with a first-of-its-kind sponsorship windfall of E1 million to train in Russia for one year. Thabiso has been privileged to training at high performance centers in preparation for the 2023 Olympic Games.
“I am looking at using half of the amount to buy equipment and the balance to boost the association as we are looking forward to the annual Boxing Day on December 26, 2022. It will be minus about US$500 (E8 719 as per yesterday’s foreign currency exchange rate) to cover the costs of my trip. We are truly grateful to the IBA president and he has done a lot for us; he sent us two boxing rings and paid for Thabiso’s scholarship. We hope this money will help us a lot as there are a lot of teams that lack essential boxing equipment, especially punching bags, head guards and sparring gloves,’’ Lukhele said.
Hinted
Meanwhile, Lukhele said he was hoping to host Zone Four President Gabriel Junior in EBA events. He also hinted that the Kingdom of Eswatini was projected to hosting Zone Four Boxing Awards for athletes, which he said would put Eswatini in the spotlight and improve their boxing standards. He also assured a thriller boxing day featuring boxing legends, socialites and inter-club boughts.
“I thank God that these recognitions are happening during my time, as you know that I am also a Board of directors’ member of AFBC and we have