Update from NABF President Duane Ford – November 10, 2020
In April 2020 the NABF leadership was faced with a very difficult decision regarding our “family gathering” in the form of our annual North American Boxing Federation convention. This difficult decision was made to cancel our annual convention. Looking back and seeing that so many of our membership was sadly affected with the impact of COVID-19, that decision in April was the correct decision.
Today I want to let you know our plans and dreams for the NABF going forward. These plans are totally dependent upon the further impact of COVID – 19. None the less we are planning on having a 2021 Convention either in Las Vegas, NV or San Diego, CA, depending upon the Center for Disease Control (CDC). We will watch this closely as we turn into the first quarter of 2021.
Boxing events have taken a hit (no pun intended) during 2020 and we express our thanks and appreciation to those commissions and promoters who have been successful in operating out of a bubble style format to bring boxing back.
I would like to update you on the following:
Remote Scoring:
This has proven to be a wonderful asset for us to practice our skills and to stay sharp with our focus and habits as an official. Many thought that remote scoring would replace our ringside judges. This is not the case, however remote scoring has worked very well on some bubble type environments and on some boxing shows that are low budget type shows.
You will hear shortly from the WBC Officials Committee regarding remote scoring in the form of officials being divided into teams. Each team will then receive an assignment to score on certain dates and will have advanced notice so that the official can prepare. This will allow each of you the opportunity to show your ability and to improve skills by staying active.
We encourage each of you to accept the invitation when received and willingly participate with the team that you may be assigned to.
WBC Officials Survey:
Each of you will receive by email a short “anonymous” survey on different subjects. The focus and purpose here is to gather your honest opinion and feelings on different subjects. We will take your opinions into consideration and will send out our surveys often seeking your input.
We know there have been hardships on many and we express our concern and sympathy to those who have lost loved ones. We also reach out to you at this time to join with us with your support on remote scoring and surveys. Let’s look to the future so that when we gather again in a convention we can all feel that we have done our part to improve that which we love……… boxing.
Duane Ford
President
NABF