Stephen (right) training with the Sabah boxing team.
KUCHING: Boxer Stephen Onn Jenggieng, 27, wants the Sarawak Boxing Association (Saba) to clear the air over his current status.
This follows their letter of protest which led to his suspension by the Malaysian Boxing Association which effectively bars the heavyweight from any competition which is recognised and sanctioned by the national body until further notice.
This means that his dream of representing Malaysia at the 2017 SEA Games in KL is now over.
News of Stephen’s situation came to light after he was interviewed by Sabah-based blog ‘Warriors of Borneo’ which has a significant following among the combat sports community in Malaysia, particularly Sabah and Sarawak.
When contacted by thesundaypost through telephone on Friday, Stephen was still in West Malaysia as part of the Sabah team competing in the Malaysia Cup – a selection event for next year’s SEA Games – held in Lawin, Perak.
However, he never even got the opportunity to step in the ring as he was disqualified following a protest lodged by Sarawak team officials.
Stephen said he was only informed of his suspension on the day of his weigh-in, giving him no opportunity to explain his side of the matter nor to appeal the disciplinary action.
He told thesundaypost that he has yet to see the letter of protest concerned, but was given to understand that it listed a complaint against him representing the Sabah boxing team and also over a social media post which he made some time ago voicing his frustration over how he was treated by the state boxing association.
Stephen claimed that he has never signed up as a member of Saba and that the association has done very little in terms of offering help, support or allowances to train or take part in competitions.
He also questioned why Saba delayed initiating disciplinary action until he was set to compete in the Malaysia Cup.
He explained that he had decided to train with and compete under the Sabah team because he felt that his progress as an athlete was going nowhere without the necessary support by Saba.
“When I wanted to enter last year’s National Golden Gloves tournament in Kuching (in Sept), I was told I had to be assigned to a state in order to compete so I was placed under Saba. But I have never trained with Saba. I trained on my own last year,” he said during the phone interview.
He added that aside from a few training sessions under former state coach Fred Mandagi who invited him to join the Sukma boxers, he mostly trained on his own.
After he won the 91kg heavyweight title – the sole Sarawakian gold medallist – he said he was told by Saba officials that they would send him to compete in the Malaysia Cup, so he continued to train by himself.
However, he said, at the last minute they told him they had to cancel their plans to send him as they only had sufficient funds to send the Sukma team, but they promised to send him to the Pesta Penang boxing tournament which was in December.
It was then that he was also encouraged to sign up with Saba as a member, but up until Friday when he spoke with thesundaypost, he was still waiting for them to pass him the form.
Two days before the fight in Penang, he was informed by Saba that they could not send him because there wasn’t any budget for accommodation for him there.
“Just to prepare for Pesta Penang last year, I cancelled my Christmas and my family also cancelled their Christmas because they wanted to come to Kuching to support me, only to hear that the trip was cancelled.
“Then Saba said they were going to send me for this year’s Golden Gloves which was supposed to be in April, but after four month’s of training, I saw comments on social media that it was postponed to September. I was surprised as no one from Saba informed me about the change,” he said, adding that since then, they have not said anything further about sending him to compete.
“After that, I was asked if I was interested join the Sarawak Sukma team for training in Thailand but I had to pay for myself as they only had the budget to sent the state athletes. I told them I could not go as I did not have the funds for it and I was only told about the trip at the last minute,” said the full-time personal trainer at Gymbox in Kuching.
Then, he received an offer by Big Hill Boxing Club in Sabah to compete in the Mayor Cup in Kota Kinabalu.
“If I won, I would get the chance to fight in Malaysia Cup – on the condition that I represent Sabah.”
The last straw came when he found out by chance that Saba had sent their boxers to train in Pontianak.
It caught him off-guard as he was not told about the trip beforehand and up to that point, he had thought he was still part of the Sarawak team.
He decided to compete in the Mayor Cup under Big Hill and he won. The Sarawak team lodged a protest after he won.
“I asked them how come you only say I am under Saba after I win? You don’t even care about me or allocate fund for my training or to send me for competition.
“I just want to move forward in this boxing. I want to have a future in boxing so I have to find someone who is willing to send me to fight.
“At that time, Saba didn’t say anything to acknowledge or respond to what I said.
“I then won the Malaysia Cup qualifier in Keningau. I got selected to join the Sabah Malaysia Cup team and joined the centralised training in KK before flying to Perak.
“Only when we arrived there then we were informed of the protest letter from Saba saying I have a discipline issue and I was suspended by Malaysia Boxing Association until further notice.”
“We (he and his Sabah coaches) want to see the letter of protest. I have also requested to see documents which prove that I am signed under Saba.
“Even the process itself is not right. Why did they not issue a letter to me giving me the chance to explain myself instead of directly to the Malaysia Boxing Association? Why was it not issued months ago when the post was made? Maybe I would have apologised then. But I had no notice as it was done at the last minute.”
Despite all this, Stephen has not given up on his boxing career. He said he is considering legal options to protest against the suspension.
When contacted via Whatsapp, Sarawak Boxing Association (Saba) president Datuk Rahman Lariwoo declined to comment, only saying that he was currently in a meeting concerning the SEA Games and they would let their lawyer ‘handle first’ Stephen’s remark on social media.
Similarly, Saba secretary Azli Karim also declined to comment when contacted via Whatsapp.