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When a convention venue and
event is derailed through the
actions of certain individuals,
it takes courage, determination,
guts, hard work and unity to
organize a new convention within
a week at a new town, new venue
and new promoter.
The World Boxing Federation’s
family did exactly that through
stepping up and being counted,
working together and not
allowing anything to get in our
way. Nothing and no-one will
ever stop the unity of the WBF!
The 2019 Convention was
spectacular. Of course there
were minor logistical errors,
but nothing can take away the
enjoyment, energy and
fulfillment of each and every
delegate in attendance.
I cannot begin to express how
grateful I am to all the family
members of the WBF who traveled
from near and far to be part of
a convention in which we honored
our late brother, friend and
executive director Olaf
Schroeder.
We opened the convention with
the introduction of all the
delegates followed by some quick
anecdotes from some our
champions. A video of Olaf
followed, and there was not a
single person in the room who
did not have tears rolling down
their cheeks.
Some short speeches, followed by
a few seminars, and then off to
the weigh-in we went. We were
warmly welcomed by new promoter
Enrico Shuetze, and after the
weigh-in and several coffees we
returned to the hotel for dinner
and the
awards ceremony.
It was an emotional evening when
we awarded Olaf the Life Member
award, and again tears began to
flow.
For me the moment of the evening
was when I caught our Vice
President Torben Hansen
completely off guard. I called
him up to assist me in handing
out the President’s Special
Service award.
Little did Torben realize that
the award was to be given to him
for his selfless dedication to
the WBF, and especially for all
his advice and guidance to me
over the years.
Up came Torben and then to
everyone’s surprise I changed my
mind and told Torben that maybe
it would be better for me to
hand out the award rather than
him. Torben was slightly bemused
and not sure what was going on.
I then announced Torben as the
winner of the award, and he
broke down in tears. It meant so
much to him, but it equally
meant so much to everyone in the
room that they gave him a
standing ovation.
So well deserved Mr Hansen!
The next day was an open
session, and it was wonderful to
see that everyone participating
again with enthusiasm and great
energy. That night we had our
WBF Championship boxing event,
and on the Sunday it was time to
hug everyone and bid farewell to
a beautiful and memorable
convention.
I know Olaf would have been
extremely proud of everyone in
the WBF.
I would like to thank Susi for
her incredibly hard work in
organizing the convention,
bookings logistics etc.
Susi did a phenomenal job and it
is greatly appreciated by one
and all. To Diana and Dirk, who
always are so professional and
dedicated, a big thank you to
both of you.
To my smoking Executive Director
Christian Roesen, who worked
around the clock as well to make
the convention so successful, a
big thank you to you my friend.
And most important to all the
delegates, fighters, champions,
trainers, promoters, managers,
officials and others who were in
attendance, I thank you all. Not
only for attending, but for
being who you are.
You are all special people, and
I am extremely proud to be a
part of your family of
wonderful, sincere and genuine
people.
Let’s get ready for the next one
in magnificent Cape Town!
Until next time,
keep punching.
Howard Goldberg
PRESIDENT: World Boxing
Federation
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