Female amateur boxing in the Pacific/Asian region

[donrock]

Looking to make connections with people involved in women's amateur boxing in the Pacific/Asian regions.

[scottmallon]

Looking to make connections with people involved in women's amateur boxing in the Pacific/Asian regions.

Not much in the way of female amateur boxing in these parts...

[donrock]

Now that women's boxing has become an official Olympic sport beginning 2012, i'm hoping it'll start to grow...

[scottmallon]

Now that women's boxing has become an official Olympic sport beginning 2012, i'm hoping it'll start to grow...

I could be wrong but I don't believe it's an official sport yet.

[JMac]

Now that women's boxing has become an official Olympic sport beginning 2012, i'm hoping it'll start to grow...

It's not official yet. AIBA is trying to get it in the 2012 Olympics but unles they change the scoring system, they'll be lucky to have the men boxing in 2012.

[donrock]

Really? I guess i misunderstood, i thought women's boxing was already confirmed as an official Olympic sport beginning with the 2012 London games...
I have a 16 year old female, but it's proving difficult trying to find competition locally...

[JMac]

Really? I guess i misunderstood, i thought women's boxing was already confirmed as an official Olympic sport beginning with the 2012 London games...
I have a 16 year old female, but it's proving difficult trying to find competition locally...

Definitely not confirmed yet for 2012. You can check it this article: http://usaboxing.org/news/article/5423
Finding competiton for females can be very dificult depending on the age and weight class. Many females have to travel to national tournaments to get bouts and that can be a catch-22 if they don't have the required 5 bouts before entering a national tournament.

[donrock]

Thanks, i appreciate the info...

[boxmel]

Don - I have a couple of contacts for you - Hawaii and Philippines. Will email you when I get back from the tournament.

Mel

[donrock]

Thanks for the info, Mel.... hopefully they can be of assistance to our local amateur program...

[boxmel]

I'm definitely keeping my fingers crossed. I doubt seriously that you have a rule book in Guam - you might want to read the rules that are posted on the AIBA web site and when our new rules come out, I'll see that you get a copy.

[Dennis]

Donrock is from Guam? What part? My daughter, son-in-law and grandkids live in Guam. My daughter has been involved in boxing since her brother Jordan started boxing in 1997. She started as a fan then became a coach, clerk and medical assistant. She has always loved amateur boxing. She was back in Michigan during the 2008 Michigan Golden Gloves and National Golden Gloves and helped out at both tournaments.

[donrock]

Dennis,
I was born and raised in the village of Toto, Barrigada, and currently reside in Dededo... We train out of the Dededo Sports Complex. It's only been during the past couple of years that the amateur boxing program here has seen a resurgence... The Guam Amateur Boxing Federation has been trying to stick to a schedule whereby an amateur card is presented every other month... October 25th is our next tournament to be followed December 06th with a Guam-Philippines Invitational tournament... I have a vested interest in the program since my daughter competes. However, she has been unable to find an opponent since she last matched up in April. She has continued to train and weighs in for every tournament since February ... and when she has no opponent, we put her in the ring with her coach to do an exhibition on the focus mitts hoping to spark some interest from the females in the audience... but it looks like we might need to go off island in order to compete... But if you know of any females on Guam that may be interested in competition, let them know we are out here!

[Dennis]

You are not far from my daughter. She lives in Yigo. It seems like there would be some women who would want to box with all the military women on the island. It would be difficult to have competition being so isolated. The boxers in Hawaii have the same problem, but at least the Hawaiin islands have a population almost 10 times that of Guam. You have less people in Guam than we do in the City of Grand Rapids. We currently have 2 active boxing clubs and a few semi-active clubs. There are a few garage clubs as well that spring up from time to time. There have been periods of time when we will have 5 or 6 active clubs. It would be tough to have shows with only clubs from GR. We usually need to draw from at least a 50 mile radius to get enough clubs and boxers to have a good show. We are then drawing from a much larger population, well over 1 million.

[donrock]

Currently, the military is an untapped market for us... but plans are in the works to involve the people at MWR... with no sponsorship thus far, everything we do is pretty much word of mouth... so if your daughter is still actively involved or interested in amateur boxing and she has inside ties to the military, perhaps she could help grow our program... MMA has exploded here and a lot of guys who had potential to represent Guam in off island tournaments were impatient and ended up forfeiting their amateur status by participating in local MMA promotions...there are actually more MMA clubs/gyms here than dedicated boxing gyms... and you're spot on about the population thing: our island is tiny... but in terms of fighters/boxers per capita, Guam holds its own against just about any locale...

[JMac]

I coach at the US Naval Academy and have a first year student from Guam that is boxing. He's pretty good and might make my starting team this year.

[boxmel]

Jim/Don - Are Guamanians considered U.S. citizens?

[JMac]

Jim/Don - Are Guamanians considered U.S. citizens?

I think they are considered like people from US Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico. Seperate country but use a US passport. Don can clear it up if I am wrong.

[Dennis]

Guam is a U.S. Territory. It is not a separate country.

[donrock]

Guam is an unincorporated territory of the United States... we share the same status as the folks from Puerto Rico... we are American citizens but do not have the right to vote for President... we can travel freely to and from and throughout the continental USA, Hawaii, and it's possessions... and beginning in 2010, ten thousand Marines and their families will be relocating to Guam from Okinawa... we should have much more in the way of competition then.. lol

[donrock]

JMac,
Whats his name and ask him where he's from...

[JMac]

JMac,
Whats his name and ask him where he's from...

Jonathan Tenorio from Mangilao

[donrock]

hmmm.. i know a couple of Tenorio's from Mangilao... but your student is obviously much younger than myself.. pls dont dog him out too much... :0

[Dennis]

Guam is an unincorporated territory of the United States... we share the same status as the folks from Puerto Rico... we are American citizens but do not have the right to vote for President... we can travel freely to and from and throughout the continental USA, Hawaii, and it's possessions... and beginning in 2010, ten thousand Marines and their families will be relocating to Guam from Okinawa... we should have much more in the way of competition then.. lol

You would think so, but you already have a lot of military families on the island with the Navy and Air Force.

[donrock]

JMac,

Pls ask Jonathan if he has a younger brother named Zack(sp?)...