KUCHING: Sarawak can dominate Sukma and the national boxing scene with proper planning and development programmes.
“A proper technical programme is essential to achieve consistent results in any sport,” said famed Armed Forces coach Major Sapok Biki who has the pedigree, experience and knowledge to put in place a blueprint to produce quality boxers for the state.
In an interview with the New Sarawak Tribune, he said for Sarawak to achieve consistent results at national and international levels and to produce professional boxers, the state has to build proper gyms.
“If Sarawak wants to produce boxers faster and in numbers they will have to first build proper gyms with trained instructors all over the state. To man the gyms they will have to train local boxers as coaches with accredited licences so the selection team will have a bigger pool of boxers to choose from,” he said.
Continued Sapok: “The government can also hire existing accredited coaches for the grassroots programme and there are many locally retired personnel from the Armed Forces with the necessary accreditations.”
The former national boxer noted that like in most boxing countries, there is a need for competitions at the grassroots level as regular competitions at a younger age allow better habits to be cultivated and make the boxers better suited to adapt later to more rigorous tournaments and training.
“Habits are the hardest to break by a boxer, especially at a later age. So if we can develop good habits at an early age, and as a boxer graduates to higher levels, the habits become his second nature and do not need to be worked on.
“The boxer can then focus on other aspects like fight strategies, gauging his opponents, anticipating the moves and reacting accordingly,” he said.
Sapok said there are many levels that need to be pursued after the grassroots level coaching and regular competitions, adding that at all the levels there must be continuity.
“If a boxer has the talent to turn pro he will go for it and nobody can stop him so the government doesn’t need to do anything.
“But the state can put in the infrastructure to hold regular local competitions. Then we will be able to produce more than just a few champions,” added Sapok
He suggested that specific training programmes be drawn up immediately for individual boxers in the state team with immediate, mid-term and long-term goals.
“If I am tasked to do it, I will take the date of the next Sukma and map everything backwards so we can see how much time we really have and plan properly from learning about the possible opponents and helping our fighters map out their strategies to training them for the matches right away,” Sapok said.
He said fitness and safety is another aspect of boxing that needs to be nurtured into the athletes at an early age because unfit boxers make for tired boxers who can’t fight. So grassroots boxing also helps to produce fit, careful and smart boxers who can be turned into champions.
“A boxer can’t afford to be tired in a fight because when one is tired he can’t think.
“So he needs to be thinking and making split-second decisions for three minutes nonstop in every round or else he may get the lights punched out of him.
“I have already helped a number of coaches get through their levels 1 and 2 coaching licences by going through the course with them and guiding them. One of them is current national coach Azmi Yunus,” said Sapok.
On the fighters for the highest level, Sapok said he will need a lot of time with them so that he can develop a good understanding with the boxers as that will help him to draw up a plan for them to follow and help them to achieve it every step of the way.
On his future plans, Sapok said he will continue to help the state in any way that he can and will also continue with his home gym as his love for the sport will spur him on to develop it in Sarawak.
“I am here now so I will do my best in any capacity while here, but when I retire I’ll probably get a position with the national team as I was supposed to take over the national juniors. But I was promoted and posted back to Sarawak so I couldn’t resist coming home,” enthused Sapok.
Sarawak can hire Sapok as its head of coaching or development but will need to request for his services from his current employer, the Armed Forces, and if he is allowed to leave, the coach can then serve the state full time.
