JOHNNY Elorde Boxing has signed a historic agreement with the Sports Foundation of Papua New Guinea, which PNG Chief Executive Officer Peter Tsamalili said was “a significant milestone for our country (Papua New Guinea) in providing a Memorandum of Understanding between an entity which is very successful in the Philippines and around the world.”
He said it was significant to have a boxing entity “Johnny Elorde and his product and aligning it with our aspirations as a sporting country.”
He said today, the Papua New Guinea government is establishing that relationship with the Elorde Gyms and creating an environment for athletes to compete in the field of boxing.
“This agreement allows us to work in alignment with what Elorde has to provide within the Philippines and at the same time to try and bring big events that Elorde has, to Papua New Guinea,” said Tsamalili.
He said they have “so many amazing facilities that were built for the Pacific Games.”
The chairman of Papua New Guinea Sports, Grahan Osborne a former New Zealand native, who has made Papua New Guinea his home, told Manila Standard this is such a good thing we are going to have “especially for Papua New Guinea sports and boxing. We are here to do the best for boxing.”
The two executives also said it would be an ultimate dream to have eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao visit Papua New Guinea and maybe even fight there.
The two officials who have been watching Manny train were amazed at his passion for boxing and his skills anchored on speed and power.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Johnny Elorde and his wife Liza, who recently visited Papua New Guinea for initial discussions on working out an agreement to help boxing in that neighboring country and in turn invited the two top sports officials to visit the Philippines.
Earlier in the day, Pacquiao invited the two sports officials to the Senate, where they were acknowledged and welcomed.