Mr. Pat Fiacco – Huge congratulations to the organizers of the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships

Seven competition days were held in the ASBC Asian Elite Men’s and Women’s Boxing Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates where several stars shined in the event.

One of the most experienced boxing officials of the world, Mr. Pat Fiacco of Canada worked as Observer in the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships and he had the same duties as last time in the Ulaanbaatar 2019 ASBC Asian Youth Boxing Championships. He summarized his experiences, opinions about the organization, level of the event, and about the work of the ITOs and referees.

“My role in the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships was Observer and I monitored the referee and judge evaluators results. I monitored also the referee and judges as well during the event. I also served on the Bout Review Jury.

The Opening Ceremony of the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships was very impressive. The gymnast with the large metal ring was like watching a Cirque de Soleil performance in Las Vegas. The introduction of the attending nations in the event is always nice and listening to the athletes’ and officials’ oaths are important during the opening.

I attended boxing events in ballrooms in the past but this is first for such a large event as the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships. This worked very well because we were able to keep our bubble small in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and follow all protocols and safety measures.

The athletes entrance sown the ramp with the bright lights and the hologram of the athletes was like watching a professional title bout. The Field of Play was slightly compromised but not at the expense of the safety of the athletes. The event looked great on the broadcasts and streaming channels served as a great image for boxing.

The LOC and ASBC deserve a tremendous amount of credit for being able to put on a successful event in such a short period of time to prepare. There would have been so many logistics to take care of that organizations would need a year to prepare for it and they did it in four weeks. This is truly amazing and they organized a first class championship within short time and they deserve huge congratulations.

The level of the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships was one of the highest I have seen a long time. There were fewer countries and athletes participating, however some of the top boxing countries attended and did not disappoint. This was a highly talented competition.

The nations that surprised me was Afghanistan and Iran. The skills of their boxers improved since I have seen them last. They were aggressive, confident and competitive against the top boxers. These are the teams to look for in the next Olympic cycle.

I did not have a favourite boxer in the tournament, to me, they are all very special individuals. I guess I would say that my sentimental favourite was India’s Mary Kom due to her successful career in and out of the boxing ring. She is a great ambassador of boxing.

The work of our ITOs and Referees & Judges were excellent in Dubai. They all had a very tough job to do because the bouts were very competitive and even. They had to pay attention to the scoring criteria to select the correct winner. There were many bouts that could have gone either way because the boxers were so evenly matched and I believe the decisions were fair in Dubai.

I did not really have any challenges during the competition. I worked with a great team that all performed their duties at a very high level. The Technical Delegate of the ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships Mr. Walid Jarrar of Jordan lead the team and set the tone. The LOC provided everything we needed to perform our duties and it was one of the best organized tournaments I have been to,” summarized his experiences Mr. Pat Fiacco of Canada during the Confederation’s Championships.

Don’t forget you can keep up with all of the action, news, results and photos by following ASBC on Facebook and Instagram.
ASBC website: www.asbcnews.org
ASBC Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ASBC.Boxing/
ASBC Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/asbc_official/
ASBC Twitter page: https://www.twitter.com/BoxingAsian?s=08