MTC will not sponsor stables with ill-disciplined boxers – Ekandjo
Nampa
WINDHOEK
MTC’s chief human capital and corporate affairs officer Tim Ekandjo has urged boxing promoters not to work with ill-disciplined boxers because they will not keep investing in ill-disciplined behaviour.
Ekandjo made these remarks on Monday during a press conference on the MTC Nestor Sunshine Tobias Boxing and Fitness Academy boxing bonanza, which took place last weekend.
He said Namibia has proven to be a boxing nation as the country has produced four boxers who have won world titles since independence, but fighters tend to lose focus and become ill-disciplined, something MTC “will not tolerate”.
“One thing we are not going to do as a sponsor is take money to promoters and let them do as they want; it is our money. If the boxer is not disciplined, the boxer is always drunk, we are going to ask the promoter why are you investing in this guy? And I’m seeing a lot of those boxers,” Ekandjo said.
“Thinking they are big stars and saying they are not going to train; all they want is fights. We will insist with the promoters and say we will not invest our money there, because there is no discipline,” he said.
Keep a close eye
He added that MTC as the main sponsor will make it their responsibility to monitor boxers’ behaviour, and said the company will encourage those who are disciplined to fight for more titles because it is a good investment as it will get the boxers ranked by legitimate world boxing bodies and give more Namibian boxers chances to fight for world titles.
“It is a good thing for a promoter to have boxers who are ranked by top boxing bodies, but it also adds a lot of financial responsibilities. You are looking at N$2 million per fight taking all costs into consideration and they only get N$2.8 million from MTC, so they have to go out and get extra money to put up a fight,” Ekandjo said.
Owner and founder of MTC Nestor Sunshine Tobias Boxing and Fitness Academy, Nestor Tobias, said Namibian boxing is growing but it is expensive to organise a fight without a sponsor. It can cause promoters to cancel fights at the last minute due to financial constraints, he said.
WINDHOEK
MTC’s chief human capital and corporate affairs officer Tim Ekandjo has urged boxing promoters not to work with ill-disciplined boxers because they will not keep investing in ill-disciplined behaviour.
Ekandjo made these remarks on Monday during a press conference on the MTC Nestor Sunshine Tobias Boxing and Fitness Academy boxing bonanza, which took place last weekend.
He said Namibia has proven to be a boxing nation as the country has produced four boxers who have won world titles since independence, but fighters tend to lose focus and become ill-disciplined, something MTC “will not tolerate”.
“One thing we are not going to do as a sponsor is take money to promoters and let them do as they want; it is our money. If the boxer is not disciplined, the boxer is always drunk, we are going to ask the promoter why are you investing in this guy? And I’m seeing a lot of those boxers,” Ekandjo said.
“Thinking they are big stars and saying they are not going to train; all they want is fights. We will insist with the promoters and say we will not invest our money there, because there is no discipline,” he said.
Keep a close eye
He added that MTC as the main sponsor will make it their responsibility to monitor boxers’ behaviour, and said the company will encourage those who are disciplined to fight for more titles because it is a good investment as it will get the boxers ranked by legitimate world boxing bodies and give more Namibian boxers chances to fight for world titles.
“It is a good thing for a promoter to have boxers who are ranked by top boxing bodies, but it also adds a lot of financial responsibilities. You are looking at N$2 million per fight taking all costs into consideration and they only get N$2.8 million from MTC, so they have to go out and get extra money to put up a fight,” Ekandjo said.
Owner and founder of MTC Nestor Sunshine Tobias Boxing and Fitness Academy, Nestor Tobias, said Namibian boxing is growing but it is expensive to organise a fight without a sponsor. It can cause promoters to cancel fights at the last minute due to financial constraints, he said.
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