IOC moves to save boxing

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board has recommended the withdrawal of recognition from the discredited federation International Boxing Association (IBA) and an extraordinary meeting of the organization will formalize the expulsion on June 22. The IBA is expected to bring up the issue before the Court of Arbitration for Sport but it appears the writing is on the wall with IOC not wavering in ending decades of questionable leadership and dubious results dating back to Anwar Chowdhry’s clique to Umar Kremlev’s stranglehold.

Charges of corruption reached a crescendo at the 2016 Rio Olympics where controversial decisions further stained IBA’s reputation. Over 10 fights were investigated and a clear victim was Irishman Michael Conlan who lost a disputed split verdict to Russia’s Vladimir Nikitin in the bantamweight quarterfinals. “Conlan was outpointed by Nikitin despite outlanding him by 12 and 10 punches in the last two rounds, according to CompuBox,” said Boxing News. IOC demanded reforms from IBA but wasn’t content with the response. For the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, IOC supervised boxing with an ad hoc committee led by International Gymnastics Federation president Morinari Watanabe of Japan. IOC will once more oversee boxing at the 2024 Paris Games but no longer in 2028 in Los Angeles.

Once IBA is delisted, IOC will likely recognize a newly-formed breakaway body called World Boxing which is based in Switzerland and scheduled to call for its inaugural congress in November. World Boxing is backed by the US and UK. ABAP has not formally affiliated with World Boxing and is closely monitoring the situation with an open mind. IBA recently sent a veiled threat to suspend ABAP after the late ABAP secretary-general Ed Picson’s wife Karina, a respected IBA technical delegate, was named to the World Boxing interim board. Picson was at the forefront of the crusade to clean up IBA as the Asian voice. IBA has been on a suspending spree in an attempt to stop member countries from migrating to World Boxing.

With IBA’s loss of grace, boxing is cast in limbo unless IOC acts quickly to recognize a replacement federation. World Boxing looms as the sport’s savior. IOC’s lifeline won’t extend beyond Paris and if it won’t accredit World Boxing or some other group to take over from IBA, the sport is doomed. The Olympics will never be the same without boxing and it’s the reason why IOC is making headway in mopping up the mess.

In a press statement, World Boxing said it’s out to keep the sport “at the heart of the Olympic movement.” It aims “to ensure the interests of boxers are put first, deliver sporting integrity and fair competitions, create a competition structure designed in the best interests of the boxers and operate according to the strongest governance standards and transparent financial management.” To keep boxers from straying away, IBA has started offering lavish prize money in tournaments, including cash of up to $200,000 for gold medalists. It also set up a review system where close decisions could be reversed within five minutes of the final bell. IBA called the IOC Executive Board’s recommendation “truly abhorrent and purely political.” But IOC is putting its foot down once and for all with governance, finance, refereeing and ethical issues raised against IBA. World Boxing has received support from Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand and Sweden aside from the US and UK.