The touring Kiribati Frigates boxing club completed their tour of the country with another impressive show on Wednesday winning 5 of their 7 bouts.
The fights attracted a huge crowd who witnessed a number of spectacular performances. The Kiribati frigates finish their tour with a 10-4 demolition against our local fighters.Although the night went out to the touring fighters Augustine Aru and South Pacific Games Silver medalist Sapolo Turukolo were on hand to prevent a 7 to nothing whitewash for the local boys.
Aru, in the first bout of the light welter weight division, won over his opponent Ieakana on points. Turukolo proved too good for his opposite Kabiriera, stopping him in the 3rd round much to the delight of local fans.
The other local fighters James Teuba, John Misiga, Ronton Qurusu, Tom Simon and Hudson Mae lost all their bouts. Teube, Qurusu and Mae lost on points to Mikaobu, Kaotinrerei and Ataniraoi respectively while Misiga and Simon lost after retiring.
Turukolo's win on Wednesday makes him the only local boxer to have won both his bouts in both the tournaments on Monday and Wednesday.
Epalle coach, Franklin Riqa, said that despite the loss his boys did well, particularly from the previous fights on Monday night.He said he was disappointed with point decision against Teube and Mae which he said should have been theirs.
"Apart from that I am still pleased with my boy's performance, their only weakness is that they did not have any proper training equipment prior to these fights," said Mr. Riqa.