OFW Boxing Association in Kuwait

When I arrived Kuwait in 2006, what came first to my mind was, to look for something that worth doing during day-off. As an OFW, I’ve got no relatives to visit, no alcoholic beverage to drink to unwind (at least occasionally) and the worst of all—no family to spend for the remaining hours of the day after a long-day of work here in Kuwait.

I understand that it is a must to do something worthwhile--to ease stress, boredom and homesickness. I think of hanging around in a mall. But at times, a mall is not even the safest place to go. And besides it cost you money to stay in a place where in every corner you will see a red tag that says “sale up to 70% off”.

I first think of boxing as a good thing to do. Boxing is my all-time favorite compare to any other sports but I presume that this is mamno (not-allowed) in Kuwait. Fast track: I look for basketball court and it become my past time in Kuwait for almost five years.

However, my love for boxing did not stop. I watch over and over fights of my favorite boxers from my CD/DVD collection or from live PPV subscription. I also read a lot of boxing articles in the web and never missed to leave my opinion and comments.

In 2011, my reading brought me into writing. I am now blogging about boxing—like this, in my personal blog here. I am also a member of yahoo! contributor network. You may read my first article published on yahoo here.

Nevertheless, I found out that writing about something very far from the place where boxing happened is somewhat difficult. I am not able to get first hand information. It is best if you are in the place where boxing event happened. How I wish, I am residing in Nevada (just day dreaming) and watch big boxing fight cards, live every weekend and write every bit of it.

I may not be granted to reside in the boxing capital of the world, but I finally discover that boxing is never ‘mamno’ in Kuwait. In fact, it is an accepted sport here in Kuwait. It just that I presumed it was not allowed.

How I discover it?

Mr. Tony Trono (sited 1st from right) with some of the pioneer clinic members

A friend handed me a leaflet that reads “Kamao laban sa Kamao” (fist vs. fist) boxing training and workshop clinic.

When read the above lines, I get so excited and called one of the organizer--Mr. Tony Trono, OFW-BAK Founder/Chairman and confirmed that they launched a two-month boxing clinic ‘Kamao laban sa Kamao’ in Kuwait starting on Friday, Feb. 8, 2013.

Below is the full excerpt from an article posted in pilipinosakuwait.blog.com site written by Ben Garcia for Panorama Balita.

KUWAIT: The OFW-Boxing Association in Kuwait (OFW-BAK) in cooperation with the Kuwait Boxing Federation and Kuwait Olympic Committee launched a two-month boxing clinic ‘Kamao laban sa Kamao’ in Kuwait last Friday. The event was held at Khaifan Sporting Complex, (in front of Kuwait News Agency and back of Platinum Gym) with Captain Adnan Radda, Captain Bader Atiyyah head and deputy of Khaifan Boxing Department respectively and Dr Mohammad Al-Bannay of Kyokushin Karate Club as their chief guests. The opening ceremony was attended by various Filipino community leaders including Mario Adones of Catsclaw, Buboy Aguilar of FCAK, Allan de Castro (Guardians) and Captain Cyril Mansueto of Filipino Sailors Club in Kuwait.

Speaking during the event, OFW-BAK Founder/Chairman Antonio ‘Tony’ Trono said boxing will be the next famous sports for Filipinos in Kuwait. “In the Philippines, the second famous sports is not volleyball not even badminton or tennis but boxing. Boxing is second to basketball so I thought of introducing boxing in Kuwait because Filipinos love this sports,” Trono mentioned. He said boxing made many Filipinos famous in the international scene such as Manny Pacquiao and Nonito Donaire. “It was a dream come true for all us Filipinos because at first, we knew it was ‘mamnu’ ‘haram’ (forbidden) in Kuwait, but eventually we found out from Kuwait Olympic Committee they have their own boxing federation here, so we immediately coordinated with them and we’re all happy to finally have boxing clinic,” Tony opined. Adnan Radda, head of boxing committee at Khaifan Sports Complex said: “We welcome everyone in this sports arena, this is for you and we hope to cater as many Filipinos who love this sports. We already have Filipinos here undergoing training in taekwondo..and now boxing; if we have more venue to accommodate your community, we’ll love to welcome you all here,” Adnan noted.

The boxing training and workshop will be held every Friday with the guidance of professional boxing trainers/coaches provided by the OFW-BAK and Kuwait Boxing Federation. The boxing clinic is open to male participants only from 17-45 years old. Women are also welcome as spectators and they can also sponsor their own players (boxers). Trono encourages all Filipinos in Kuwait to join their boxing clinic especially since they plan to organize a title/amateur bout in the coming months. “We plan to bring Manny Pacquiao or Nonito Donaire as our guest in the next months or so, we are working hard for their upcoming visit,” Trono revealed. Khaifan Gym Boxing Arena is open to Filipinos from 1-5pm. Trainers, coaches are available in the gym including boxing gloves and all related boxing gears. For details please contact Tony at Tel no. 66476918, Buboy Tel 66032010. Training/workshop is sponsored by McDonalds, Zain Telecommunications, Al-Alamia Manpower Services, Waleed Supermarket, Sebamed, Kuwait Times, Filipino Panorama, DTA Rockstars Kuwait (of Aim Global), Oman Exchange Company, Universal Arwa Printing Press and Fonz International.

On Friday, I visited the boxing clinic with my friend Engr. Joel Alcantara because we plan to enroll. We met personally Mr. Tony Trono and talked about how to enroll and the future plans of the clinic. In my next post I will write what we discuss during our visit.

Here are the following photos I took during our visit.

Joel hit the bag with his bare knuckles

Heavy bags in the gym

The boxing ring that I love to climb very soon

Club members sparring

Club Members also did a their own version of Harlem Shake