The Commandant Nigerian Naval College Ebubu, Rear Admiral Haruna Zego has applauded Rear Admiral Victor Choji for his commitment to developing the character and skills of Batch 37 Trainees for their future national assignments. He made the commendation during the 6 days Batch 37 Novice Boxing Competition held at the Nigerian Navy Basic Training School boxing ring Onne.
The Commandant Nigerian Navy Basic Training School, Rear Admiral Victor Choji while giving his remarks, reiterated that the objective of the Novice Boxing competition was to enhance the trainees’ self defence capability and confidence when confronted with difficult situations during military operations.
He also stated that the idea of the competition was to showcase not only the physical abilities of trainees but also to exhibit their mental resilience. Furthermore, the Commandant Nigerian Basic Training School emphasized that the Batch 37 Novice Boxing Competition was designed to instill the ‘’killer instint’’ and courage in personnel to further equip them for the demanding role they may face when launched into the Nigerian Navy operations after the ab initio training.
Rear Admiral Choji further buttressed that the Batch 37 Trainees Novice Boxing Competition serves as a vital tool for developing physical fitness, resilience and mental fortitude, aligning with the ‘’warrior ethos’’ and preparing the trainees for future combat, national security and development.
The Novice Boxing was a competition between 6 Divisions in the training school with a total of 1968 trainees. The boxing bouts were 984; a total of 807 for males and 177 for females across various weight categories in line with boxing regulations. Interestingly, the boxing competitors were kitted with boxing gloves, head and teeth guards. A total of 6 rings were designated for the competition; each ring was manned by a referee and 2 judges to record points for each fighter. Glaringly, the boxing bouts consists of 3 rounds of 1 minute 30 seconds each with 10 seconds rest intervals at the end of each round. All the competitors were entitled to one assistant during the boxing bout. The punches were categorized into phases. The straight punch on the face is 3 points, punch on the body is one point while the punch below the belt is a fault and a point will be deducted, likewise below and behind the head. The boxer with the highest point therefore wins the boxing bout except in the case of knockout. A total of 966 bouts were fought successfully during the 6 days boxing exercise.
The Special Guest of Honour, Rear Admiral Haruna Zego while delivering his speech disclosed that boxing is very germane in military training and that it boosts morale and encourages cohesion among personnel. He added that boxing as a segment of sports, reinforces group identity and makes personnel ready to serve a shared cause, even in the most difficult circumstances.