“Peacefighter” Hamid Rahimi and his team were enthusiastically welcomed by the Afghan boxing fans in Kabul after arriving fort he October 30th “Fight 4 Peace” event which will feature a 12 round middleweight title fight between local hero Rahimi and Said Mbelwa from Tanzania. Rahimi has already been invited by the National Olympic Committee and several other NGOs, held a first press conference and gave several TV interviews. Tomorrow the middleweight contender will be welcomed by President Hamid Karsai.
“I am so proud to be back in my country and to set a sign for peace and freedom”, said Rahimi. “This truely feels like making history. I want to thank all the people who helped me to make my dream of the “Fight 4 Peace” come true. I am simply overwhelmed by the positive reaction and the warm welcome we received when arriving in Kabul. I am sure that this will be a fantastic event and we will do all we can to change the perception of Afghanistan here in the country and all around the world.”
The World Boxing Organisation (WBO) honoured Rahimi and his project and confirmed its full support at their Annual Convention which is currently held in Miami, Florida. President Francisco Valcarcel agreed to sanction the “Fight 4 Peace” as WBO Intercontinental “Peace” Championship.
“Our next project is to go wherever war is”, said championship chairman Luis Batista Salas at the Opening Ceremony of the WBO Convention according to fightnews.com. “To go where there is less understanding. To show peace is better than war. To give some kind of hope. Some kind of discipline. In Afghanistan it has been dominated by misery and violence. They have been fighting for the last 30 years. 1.5 million were killed during Russian invasion. In 1996 the Taliban came to power. We have initiated a program to go to Afghanistan and give what we can offer. ”
Vice President John Duggan added that “the opportunity presented itself to the WBO to host a fight on October 30th 2012. The concept of this event is to have one day of sport and one day of peace, we are hoping it will contribute to rebuilding their civilization. We are happy to be involved in this. We hope to do more events in similar situations.”
