The Marist St Joseph's International Sports Week got underway in Apia today with the welcoming of Marist boxing delegations from Tonga, American Samoa, and Australia.
Marist St. Joseph’s club president Faimalomatumua Mathew Lemisio says the inclusion of boxing in the sports week is part of efforts to promote the sport so that it can become a success.
“We truly see Samoa being able to produce a world champion of their own. It’ll take time, but it’s possible and that is why we are striving to push boxing in our international sports week,” he said.
Other sports to feature in the Marist International Sports Week are netball and rugby league.
However, Faimalomatumua says the goal for boxing aligns with every other sport’s initiative to produce world class athletes.
“It’s just the beginning. We’re hoping to include way more sports in next year’s event. We have these very experienced and a really good team from Australia taking part and that’s something we’re proud of,” he added.
Faimalomatumua says Samoa can host as many boxing tournaments as it wants, but without the exposure, the standard of the sport in the country will remain at just the local level.
“We need this exposure, that’s why we’re trying to make this whole thing work. Seeing that Australia and American Samoa and Tonga are now on board for the program, is a very big step for the international sports week,” he added.
The main bout for the fight night will feature Samoan-Australian professional boxer Jai Opetaia, whom Faimalo says requested that he takes part in the special event this year.