Boxing coach Obisia Nwankpa wants early preparations for Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010

National boxing coach Obisia Nwankpa has lamented the lack of serious preparations for the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games.

According to the former Commonwealth champion the boxers to represent the country at the event are worried that there are no competitions to enable them be in shape.

He said, ”It is sad that we are not preparing for the Commonwealth Games. In other countries, preparations are already in top gear and these are the people we will meet.

”For an event of such magnitude we should have started our preparations.

”There should have been competitions to select our boxers by now so that by next year we‘ll be talking about early camping. That‘s the only way we can be sure of medals,” he said.

The coach regretted that the national team could not impress at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and at the Amateur International Boxing Association Championship earlier this year, saying the preparations toward the events were terrible.

Obisia said, ”Toward the Olympics, we were camped in Benin just weeks before the games, and from there we moved to Beijing. The preparation was not good enough for us. It was difficult fighting boxers who had trained in three different countries, gaining experience and skills.”