Taking Maltese boxing to a new level
Muscat faces Aquilina for Light Heavyweight championship belt at Ta' Qali tomorrow
In Malta, boxing has to some extent commanded a presence with a good number of fights put on. The sport, however, never really had a strong organisational backbone with most of the participating boxers not even possessing a licence, and, worse still, no proper medical tests undertaken before matches.
After futile attempts to enlist the backing of the Malta Boxing Federation, two individuals, namely Edwin Micallef and Ludvic Muscat, with the support of former Maltese boxer Vince Bongailas and John Essex, a former British professional boxer, have got together to work towards getting the situation to a level acceptable to international standards.
The aim is to have this mechanism in place as soon as possible to enable Maltese boxers to aspire towards the next edition of the Olympic Games in 2012.
With this in mind, this group of people will be meeting with the Maltese Sports Council to discuss the new rules and regulations that Malta needs to adopt with the help of the European Boxing Union (EBU), with whom Malta is now affiliated.
The experience of both Essex and Bongailas, the latter being Malta's first professional boxer with vast experience in the field, should help in the efforts to outline the need for the neglected situation that the sport finds itself on a local level.
The group will also be putting on a boxing match tomorrow at the Basketball Pavilion, Ta' Qali.
It will be the first local match organised under the rules and regulations of the Malta Boxing Board Control which is now the only one affiliated to the EBU and can issue boxing licences.
The organisers stress upon the fact that this match has no connection with any of the matches that have previously been held in Malta. The main bout will see Ludvic Muscat fighting Steve Aquilina for the Light Heavyweight championship.
Before the main event, there will be three other amateur fights, with Bernard Micallef fighting Sam Cortis in the Lightweight category; Joseph Apap facing Dexter Bianco in Welterweight; and Giorgio Bileci taking on Wayne Crosley in the Light Heavyweight category.
One may obtain more details from Edwin Micallef on edmic@maltanet.net.