This is the content of the correspondence of the 1984 Olympic medalist, on behalf of the National Association of Former Boxers of Cameroon, for the attention of the Minister of Sports on June 7, 2021.
Cameroonian boxing has been going through a period of turbulence for some time. The results on the rings of some boxers seem to be the tree that hides the forest. Three Cameroonian boxers are qualified for the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021. But, their preparation is the subject of scandal and various facts, like the last Tournament of Russia in which they were to take part and that the trip stopped in Dubai where they spent time before returning to Cameroon. Martin Ndongo Ebanga, Los Angeles Olympic medalist in 1984, Knight of the Order of Valor, medal for sporting merit, and president of the National Association of Former Boxers of Cameroon (ANABC), was seen yesterday, June 7, 2021 at the Ministry of Sports, accompanied by some former boxers including Joseph Mulema, former captain of the national team, Boby Tchinda …
Martin Ndongo Ebanga declared that he had come to deposit a correspondence for the attention of the Minister of Sports, the subject of which is: “Protest by former boxers in the face of Cameroonian boxers’ unpreparedness for the Olympic Games”. It is on behalf of diaspora and local boxers that Martin Ndongo Ebanga, through the ANABC, protests against what they call one scandal too many, which splashes boxing and seriously jeopardizes the preparation of Cameroonian boxers in preparation. of the next Olympic Games. “It came back to us that the Cameroon boxing team, which was supposed to take part in a preparation tournament in Russia, ultimately did not participate. The trip was summed up in a tourist getaway in Dubai where the boxers were confined to the resort. Such a breach leaves us wondering and especially doubtful as to the real motivations of the federal executive, in this normally critical period of preparation. However, we are convinced that a good preparation could allow Cameroonian boxers to perform well, even to glean medals, in view of the historicity and the enormous potential of Cameroonian boxers ”, write the former boxers from the pen of Martin Ndongo Ebanga.
The former boxers take the opportunity to indicate to the Minister of Sports Prof. Narcisse Mouelle Kombi that the executive of the Cameroonian boxing federation is not at its first blow. “An almost similar mishap, orchestrated by the same internal actors (current federal executive) and external (their accomplice in Dubai), had in its time, sealed the preparation of the Cameroon team leaving for the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016. Having left for a preparatory tournament in Cuba, the team was still stuck in Dubai, with, at the end, a poor participation and this, in spite of its enormous potential ”, they denounce. Former boxers have spread a string of grievances against the current federal executive and have signaled their dismay to see boxing dying calmly, yet brimming with potential, one of the medal purveyors for Cameroon on a global scale. “There is a group of people who don’t like boxing. I have a lot of things I can say about them. He must leave and boxing returns to the boxers. They have nothing to do with boxing. They are impostors. What does the Arab Emirates have to do with boxing? It is not a boxing nation. When we are going to do a preparation, it is not there that we have to go. In 2012, there is a group of boxers who were there. But, I did not go. Mr. Mendouga (president of the Fécaboxe, editor’s note) knows very well why I did not go there. He knows I’m telling the truths and what I’m thinking. So, we want to rebuild boxing. We want to think boxing; we want to live boxing. It was because of these people that I retired a bit from boxing. I am coming back very slowly, because the comrades ask that we resume our business to help our young brothers. What we have experienced, we would not like our young brothers to live it ”, denounced Joseph Mulema. There is still time to recover from this preparation of our boxers for Tokyo 2021.
Achille Chountsa
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“Boxing must not die before me”: Martin Ndongo Ebanga, former boxer and Olympic medalist
I am suffering. Boxing is part of my life. It is thanks to boxing that I have the name I have today. In our time, Cameroonians loved boxing and demonstrated their love for me. But, for a while, I have wondered if I am still a Cameroonian who can enjoy the advantages of the country. Boxing no longer lives in Cameroon, because there are people who take money to go and do stupid things and don’t give a damn about boxing. I am not the one who would give you the names of the latter. I am really overwhelmed. We have come to present this situation to the Minister of Sports, through correspondence that we have submitted to him. The Minister of Sports is a wise man and I am convinced that he will find the solution for the case of former boxers and the situation of boxing in Cameroon.
We, former boxers, we ask him to help us have a room, which would allow former boxers to train young people. There are many who love boxing, who want to practice this discipline. The minister’s support will bring boxing back to life. It is this money that people take and squander all over there, which allowed me to go from country to country to train and prepare myself before going to the Olympic Games where I gave a result. I haven’t even had a chance yet to be given a small place to train and pass on what I’ve learned to young people.
Boxing has to come back to life. Boxing must not die before me. But, how am I going to live without boxing? It is my life and that of other people. If boxing dies before me, I don’t know if it’s me who will follow it. But, I’d rather fight for her to live while I’m alive. Not that I’m very important. No ! My love for boxing is shared by a lot of young Cameroonians. There are many these young people who come to me. In my head only boxing swarms.
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