by Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) capital city, Port Moresby, will be hosting an international boxing event on the 18th of November, The National reports.
The international sanctioning body for professional boxing matches, the World Professional Boxing Federation (WPBF) has sanctioned two fights to take place in the city; an international bantam weight and an Asia-Pacific welter weight fight.
The custodian and promoter of the fights, the PNG Professional Boxing Federation (PNGPBF), was awarded the privilege to host the event after paying fees to the international body. Australia’s international boxing referee, Brad Vocale, has been confirmed to officiate the fights which will feature two of the country’s promising pugilists.
Douglas Walo will fight Filipino opponent, Jonel Gandapan, for the WPBF Asia-Pacific light welter weight title. Meanwhile, the main bout will be between Manusian Jason Hayeu against Pinoy pugilist, Dado Cabintoy, for the bantamweight title.
The two local fighters have been preparing well with Hayeu training in Manus under coach Tinge Metta while former professional Pacific champion Steven Metta is training Walo at the SOCAY Boxing Club in Hohola.
Jason is the younger brother of Joel Hayeu who died tragically after his professional debut in June 2009. He (Joel) collapsed after the presentations went into a coma which he never recovered from. According to The Age, his trainer and former Australian lightweight champion Jeff Malcom, the fight should been stopped but “for some reason the fight was allowed to finish.”
The duo will be fighting for themselves as well as the pride and prestige of the country, and require all the support they can be given. The PNGPBF is putting out an invitation to the Sports Minister, Justin Tatchenko, and the National Capital District (NCD) Governor, Powes Parkop, to officially open the international event.
WPBF was originally formed in 1998 under the name World Boxing Empire (WBE) then changed to World Boxing Syndicate (WBS). However, in October 2005, the United States Boxing Council (USBC) became affiliated with WBE which prompted a name change to WPBF.
