A 24-year-old Samoan boxer who hopes to claim glory at the Olympic Games in Paris is looking for sponsors to turn this dream into reality.

Seua’i Ato Leau Plodzicki-Faoagali has qualified for the Olympic Games after winning a gold medal at the Pacific Games in November.

He has not been able to attend any international training camps or get professional help in terms of nutrition, recovery, strength and conditioning. He is hoping that he was unable to attend lead up tournaments during the last Olympics due to financial constraints. 

However, he would like to have a fair shot at a medal in the Olympic Games.

In an interview with the Samoa Observer, Seua'i stressed that his goal is to boost his confidence and knowledge to the professional level by getting into professional training camps and securing a good spot at the Olympics.

"I’m mainly after sponsors to hire a strength and conditioning trainer, professional dietitian, training recovery, training equipment, and hopefully access international training camps in the lead up to the Olympics, and to also help with my boxing training expenses with my coach and accessing gyms," he said.

"It is hard to find businesses or sponsors to support my boxing journey, and I think it’s mainly due to amateur boxing not being a popular sport in Samoa as rugby and league or other team sports. 

"I’ve tried in the past to reach out for funds and sponsorship, but as always there was no interest, so we just made do with our situation and just stayed training in our backyard and only used local sparring to get me prepared for the last Olympics and Commonwealth games.

"I’m always confident in my ability and heart to get me through tournaments, I just thought I’d reach out again to see if there’s interest there to help me prepare better than I did in the past and give myself every chance  to podium and even win gold at the Olympics."

Asked how his training has been in preparations for the Olympics, Seua'i said so far it has been the usual, training in the backyard with his father doing all the roles as boxing coach, strength and conditioning coach and sometimes even nutritionist.

"I just wanted to add that in no way is my post or plea for sponsorship a dig at our federation or Olympic committee, these are just my personal needs to help me better prepare and I know they are trying their best to help all our other athletes as well," he added.

Seua'i is a Samoan boxer who has represented Samoa at the Pacific Games, Commonwealth Games and the 2020 Summer Olympics. He turned professional last year but has fought less than two fights making him eligible for the Olympic Games.