Boxing has been a mainstay in the Olympics and had another successful run at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.
But the politics of boxing has long been scrutinized and criticized as the sport continues to be plagued by controversial decisions, events and individuals; this weekend’s controversial no-knockdown ruling in the Tank Davis vs. Lamont Roach Jr fight exemplifies this issue.
In Olympic boxing, the IBA (International Boxing Association) was the tournament organizer, but after continued criticism of the organization regarding finances, governance and general integrity relating to bouts and judging, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) suspended the IBA in 2019 and organized the tournaments itself for the 2021 Tokyo Games and the 2024 Paris Games.
While the IBA, led by its Russian president Umar Kremlev, continues to fight the IOC, particularly over the latter’s decision to allow boxers Imane Khelif from Algeria and Lin Yu-Ting from Taiwan to compete despite claims that they were transgender (the IOC has stated again that neither athlete is transgender despite the IBA disqualifying them from the 2023 world championships), the IOC is taking steps to bring credibility back to the sport.
Last week, the IOC board, per the AP, granted “provisional recognition” to World Boxing (WB), a group founded in 2023 to distance boxers and the sport from the IBA.
WB “has demonstrated strong willingness and effort in enhancing good governance and implementation, to be compliant with the appropriate standards,” according to the IOC, which also noted that 62% of the boxers from the Paris Games were affiliated with the organization.
Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, who leads the charge to make WB the official organizer for Olympic boxing, is happy about the latest step taken toward this goal but understands that more needs to be done.
“Receiving provisional Olympic recognition from the IOC is an important achievement and demonstrates that our sport is on the right path. This decision brings us one step closer to our main goal – preserving boxing at the Olympic Games,” said Golovkin in a statement.
The move by the IOC to grant World Boxing provisional recognition follows the latter getting support from four new members this past November, including the boxing federation of Uzbekistan, which took home 5 of the 13 gold medals at the Paris Games.
The four members are Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Guatemala and Laos, giving WB 55 members.
“The addition of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, which are two of the world’s leading boxing nations, is a major coup for World Boxing,” said World Boxing in a statement at the time.
The good news for boxing comes at a time when grumblings about the LA Olympic committee’s preparation and plans are surfacing, so the last thing the IOC needs is more critiques or distractions.
And the same goes for the sport of boxing.
