Mr. Dian Gomes – We are working on our strategies to win an Olympic medal in 2024

Mr. Dian Gomes is the President of the Sri Lankan Boxing Federation and member of the ASBC Women’s Commission as well. Dian Gomes, a former Sri Lankan Junior Champion and a name that has preceded the statement “the undisputed God Father of Boxing in Sri Lanka” has been the person responsible for the success of the Boxing Association of Sri Lanka on many occasions.
The Sri Lankan boxers competed in the ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships in Tashkent where their No.1 Dinidu Saparamadu qualified for the Hamburg 2017 AIBA World Boxing Championships. Sri Lanka has got great R&Js and they have got all the potential to be stronger in the upcoming years.

– Could you please introduce your country’s boxing life?
– In the 19th Century British Armed forces had invaded and resided in various parts of Sri Lanka, then called Ceylon. The Royal Navy had vessels within their fleet anchored at major harbours and the Royal Air Force had camps set up beside air runaways at strategic locations. In fact, in an effort to strengthen their force, the British Armed Forces recruited Ceylonese nationals as well.
As a form of recreation, games such as Athletics, Boxing, Cricket, Soccer and Rugby football were introduced to keep the troops healthy and happy. Boxing being a contact sport became immensely popular overnight and drew not only huge crowds as spectators but also a considerable number of eager competitors. Many boxing tournaments were organized and in order to conduct them, the British formed an Association that consisted of representatives from within Armed Forces. The first local Association was titled the ‘’United Services Boxing Association of Ceylon (USBAC).
The first Ceylonese to learn modern amateur boxing was late Mr Donald Obeysekara, who gathered this skill and knowledge while studying as a freshman at Cambridge University. Upon his return to Ceylon, he was appointed as a member of the USBAC. By 1913 boxing had spread to the Police and leading schools in the country.
In 1914 the British Tea Planter, Mr SC Trail who fore saw that the future of Ceylon’s boxing would prevail in the hands of school boys, obtained the permission of the Colonial Secretary (later the Governor) Sir R Edward Stubbs to award a challenge shield in his name every year at an Inter School Championship Boxing Tournament. The tournaments were both organized and governed by the USBAC. In 1935, school teachers from each respective school formed the Schools Boxing Association and took over from the USBAC which is now run in over 120 schools.
The ABA conducted their inaugural National Championship in 1926. In order to encourage team participation, the ABA introduced another tournament in 1927 called the Clifford Cup Meet which was opened to those participating in teams only. In the pursuance of maintaining the quality of boxing the ABA introduced yet another tournament called the Layton Cup Meet.
Sri Lanka has hosted major International tournaments, all held on Colombo. In December 1967 the 4th Asian Championships was held which saw 12 countries participate and in August 1991 the South Asian Games were held.
At the AIBA Congress held in 1967, Ceylon proposed that the Light Fly Weight Category be introduced stating that most Asians were of a smaller build. With all other Asian Countries endorsing this initiative, the AIBA accepted the request and thus, the Light Fly Weight Category took effect in January 1968.

– Would you like to tell us your strategic plans for the future and the key developments in your country?
– “Mr. Dian Gomes is reputedly known for his uncanny knack for identifying talent. Having a steadfast belief in getting the foundation right and carefully selecting a group of professionals who share in his love and philosophy for boxing, Dian took office with his new team who individually all bring with them years of experience, knowledge, discipline and respect- an excellent combination of traits needed for any team to succeed regardless of the sport. Dian and his team are well aware that their tactics must rely heavily on pitting Sri Lankan talent against International players if they are to succeed,” added his main advisor Mr. Hemantha Weerasinghe who is another engine in Sri Lanka’s boxing life.
This year we will see our boxers how take part at the ASBC Asian Confederation Women’s Boxing Championship in Ho Chi Minh City and next year in 2018 at the Commonwealth Games in Australia and the Asian Games 2018 in Indonesia.
We relentlessly determined to push a Sri Lankan boxer to win that coveted Olympic gold medal for Sri Lanka. I will put all my efforts and resources into this quest and fight hard till the day that this dream is realized. One of his first acts will be to bring back a Cuban coach to Sri Lanka to develop our boxers’ skills and technique.
Though success did not come our way at the Olympics in 2008, we made a very positive impact and it was a learning experience for our boxers. We went on to elaborate on the fact that a “defining boxing strategy” will be put in place which will hopefully help clinch an Olympic Gold medal at the Paris Summer Olympic Games in 2024.
We have also put various programs in place designed to select, train and equip youth to be the cream of the lot at International Tournaments, gearing them for the Olympics. Programs that include the Identification and Development of Talented Elite Men and Women Boxers and the Development Plan for the Identification of Men and Women Boxers between the ages of 18 to 23 years.
The Sri Lankan Men’s & Women’s Boxing teams have started to undergo a rigorous 11 month Local and International tournament schedule as preparation for the Commonwealth Games, to be held in 2018. Development of the Women’s boxing team for the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships next year will take priority after ASBC Asian Confederation Women’s Boxing Championship this year.
The concept of a youth squad was formulated this year which supports the BASL’s vision of developing boxers for an Olympic Medal win by 2024. The squad comprises of the most promising boxers from school circuits who are expected to make it onto the national team in 2-3 years. They will also be exposed to the AIBA Women’s Youth World Boxing Championships, the ASBC Asian Confederation Youth Boxing Championships and the AIBA Youth World Championships in 2018.

– What are the main strengths and issues in your boxing life?
– Previously, we had only a handful of International or Continental Qualified Officials. Mr, Danton Obeysekara the pioneer officiated as Referee & Judge at Olympic Games held in London 1948, Helsinki 1952, and Melbourne 1956 and finally in Rome 1960. Currently, there are 4 AIBA 3 Star qualified, 2 AIBA 2 Star qualified 15 AIBA and 1 Star qualified official on the panel.
In order to foster a more advanced skill set among our coaches we have organized many Olympic solidarity boxing coaching programs in the country. In addition to this the boxing Coaches Association under the auspices of the ABA has also had many coaching training programs at various across the country for both coaches as well as new and up coming boxers, both male and female. Presently, the Boxing Association of Sri Lanka has 4 AIBA 3 Star coaches and 35 AIBA 1 Star coaches and coaches course Instructor.