RABA to start scouting female boxers

THE inclusion of women’s boxing at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games has stirred the Rwanda Amateur Boxing Association (Raba) into a talent-scouting exercise.Raba technical director Gashugi Kananura, who also doubles as the national team coach, told Times sport yesterday the introduction of women’s boxing is the next big issue on their agenda.Gashugi said, “It is good that women’s boxing has been included at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. We will soon start scouting for female boxers because we don’t have many of them at the moment.” Women’s boxing took another significant step towards full international recognition this week when it was announced that the sport will feature for the first time in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014.The Commonwealth Games Federation made the decision at their general assembly meeting in Kampala, Uganda, on October 3. The announcement comes shortly after the London Olympic Games.The leading female boxer in the country at the moment is Bantam weight (54kg) national champion Pascaline Mugabakazi.Prior to the London Olympic Games, women’s boxing had been criticised by many in the sport, including the hugely successful amateur boxing nation of Cuba, which said it was inappropriate for women.Ching-kuo Wu, president of the sport’s governing body AIBA, is confident the number of women’s weight categories will be more than doubled for Rio 2016.For Glasgow, however, three weight categories are probably for the best, with the majority of Commonwealth nations still coming to terms with the repercussions of a women’s sport that now deserves to be fully funded and integrated within existing systems.It will be the first time women’s boxing has been included in the Games, held every four years for more than 70 countries.

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RABA to start scouting female boxers