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BOXING FEVER GRIPS JOHANNESBURG
ON EVE OF ABL DEBUT
Wednesday 27 February 2002
The South African capital Johannesburg is abuzz with "boxing fever" just twenty-four hours out from the debut of the HBF's eighth feeder league, the African Boxing League.
Tomorrow night, the Carnival City Big Top Arena will host its second HBF fight card in thirteen days, following on from the card headlined by Gene Tunney back on the 16th. The African Boxing League has stirred up incredible excitement on the continent, with the #1 seed Ike Ibeabuchi of Nigeria being spoken of in glowing terms. But he's not the only one garnering attention. #2 seed Anaclet Wamba of the Congo is also expected to do big things in the league.
"We are really excited about tomorrow night," HBF President Vincennes said. "It's just been so incredible being here for the past couple of weeks, helping this league come to fruition. It's been probably the most satisfying thing I've done so far for the federation."
Indeed, the formation of the African Boxing League came about hot on the heels of the HBF's fight card on 16 February. In the days after that event, Vincennes spoke with government officials about the possibility of forming the federation's eight feeder league in Africa, with Johannesburg hosting the league's first card. His idea was met with an enthusiastic response, to say the least. That enthusiasm helped achieve a lot in a short period of time, including flying a quartet of "standby" boxers out from the United States to take part in the league.
The participation of Gene Tunney, the #1 seed in the federation's World Championship tournament, has been, in the opinion of federation president Vincennes, critical to the success of selling this new feeder league to the African people. Tunney has been tireless in his efforts, promoting the event in addition to devoting many hours to junior boxing development camps that the federation have been running during their extended stay in Johannesburg.
"It's been a real pleasure to be involved in this," Tunney said. "I feel very fortunate that President Vincennes had the faith to place this responsibility in my hands. It's a great compliment, really. But I can't take all the credit. Other guys like Earnie Shavers have really done their part, too."
Tomorrow night, Vincennes, Tunney and Shavers will be there at ringside when the African Boxing League stages its first fight card. It promises to be a great evening of boxing, a night that will bring a lot of satisfaction to Vincennes, Tunney, and every single person that has worked so hard during these past couple of weeks to bring the African Boxing League to life...
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