ANDREA FERNANDES
MAPUSA: Lenny D’Gama has been selected by the Boxing Federation of India to be the manager of the Indian men’s team for the International Boxing Association (AIBA) Men World Boxing Championship which will be held at Russia from September 7 to 21.
At the same time he has also been appointed by AIBA to be an International Technical Official (Referees and Judges Evaluator) for the AIBA Women World Championship again at Russia from October 4 to 17.
Lenny hails from Saligao and over the last two decades has contributed immensely towards the upliftment of boxing in the state and country at large. He has earlier been in the Hospitality Industry and worked in international chains of hotels for several years. He has credited with shaping some of the country most successful boxers.
“It is such a huge responsibility but I am going to try my best. I have a few plans for the team and hopefully we will be able to execute the same. I am going to be directly responsible for their performance. I became an International Boxing Association (AIBA) 3 star referee judge in 2008. As an international technical official for boxing I have officiated at over six World Championships and also at the London Olympics. In 2010 I was competition manager for Commonwealth Games boxing event as well as South Asian Games 2014,” said Lenny before leaving to New Delhi on Thursday afternoon.
India fetched the Best Asian International Technical Official (ITO) for 2017 award with Lenny winning the online poll and being declared the winner by the Asian Boxing Confederation’s stakeholders. He is a name synonym with boxing in Goa and is currently the Vice President and Co-ordinator of the Goa Amateur Boxing Association (GABA).
Lenny has worked as a sports administrator for a number of international events such as the Lusofonia Games, South Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and a few others. He also officiated at the ASBC Asian Confederation Junior Boxing Championship in Puerto Princesa and also in the Asian Women’s Boxing Championships in Ho Chi Minh City.
