Interview with Palestine’s head coach Mr. Nader Jayousi

Mr. Nader Jayousi is the coach of the Palestinian team and we asked him about the country’s boxing life in Tashkent. He arrived with two boxers to the ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships to the Uzbek capital and their new middleweight (75kg) boxer, Qasim Abudabaat delivered a big sensation with his KO success against Sri Lanka’s Sampath Kumara which was Palestine’s first ever victory in the history of the continental event.
“I admire the level of organization in this championships, the Uzbekistan Boxing Federation has done a great job hosting event. Everything is clear and easy, each team has got a translator which made things easier and broke the language barrier.
I think the Palestinian boxers are still outclassed in such an event as the ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships that refers to not having any long term strategy in our boxing school system yet.
Qasem’s win was the first in a big international competition and I think it would be put the Palestinians morally in a position where they actually can believe they are able to get triumphs in such a top event as the ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships.
Palestine have to develop their boxers from the grassroots, regarding the older generations most important thing is to increase their participation in smaller international events. The preparation was not so good enough to this championship as there is not any hall for the national team to train together and usually we have only one national event through the year.
It is obvious how better the Asian boxing level has gotten to, most of the countries have developed their boxers which comes from implementing long term programs and strategies, like Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are always working on preparing new generation of champions.
I am trying to aspire to build the boxing structure in Palestine in way that would make the country able to make its first gold medal in the Olympic Games in 2028. Our best boxing gym, Elbarrio is now hosting lots of programs for talented kids. Elbarrio has got National Champions in Palestine in all age groups and we start receiving kids from the age of 6.
I would like to underline the importance that Elbarrio is the first boxing gym in Palestine that trains girls for how to box and takes it seriously as boys. We are sure that our biggest boxing gym is going to bring Palestinian women boxers to the Asian and World stage soon but we still need some time to develop them,” said Mr. Nader Jayousi in the venue of the ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships.