NATIONAL team Head Coach, David Yombayomba is pleased with the response of the boxers towards his training regimes.
The team of nine boxers is undergoing an intensive training at the National Indoor Stadium in Dar es Salaam, to seek qualification into the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Eight of the fighters are men and one lady boxer.
The provisional squad will be trimmed to get the quality boxers, who will compete in the continental qualification event to be staged in Dakar, Senegal from February 20 to 29 , 2020.
And, according to Yombayomba, only five boxers will make it to Dakar to seek tickets for the quadrennial event in Tokyo.
The ‘Daily News’ observed the boxers’ sparring session on Tuesday, with pugilists working out hard for endurance, speed and agility, each aiming at securing place for Dakar trip.
Majority of the boxers are from the National Service (JKT) and Ngome from Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (TPDF), who have been training for more than two months at the same venue.
“All boxers are healthy and physically fit. We are working to strengthen their endurance, speed and agility. “I’m pleased with their (boxers) response to training regimes… they have been giving their best, and building their confidence on day to day training. They get time to understand their strength and weakness to avoid errors when they are in bout,” Yombayomba said.
Looking at the fighters was encouraging especially in their sparring work out. They fought mini games for three rounds each in a rotation.
An interesting bout was between a female and male fighter: Zulfa Y usuf and Boniface Mlingwa respectively.
The female boxer was quite impressive, as her ability was quite beyond imaginable as she punched without fear, protected her face with a strong guard.
Despite several jabs landing on her face, she stood firm with aggregation towards her opponents without fear.
All bouts were interesting, whereas the majority boxers who trained were grouped in middle weight and only two fighters fought heavy weight challenge — Yusuf Changarawe who traded punches with Haruna Mhando.
According to the Boxing Federation of Tanzania (BFT) Secretary General, Lukelo Willilo, the scouting of boxers begun since last year, whereas fighters were selected based on the three different competitions.
