IOC recognizes World Boxing: Olympic future of boxing seems assured

After years of uncertainty, the Olympic future of boxing seems to be secure. On Wednesday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognized the new amateur world association World Boxing "provisionally as an international association within the Olympic movement," as the IOC announced. The knockout seems to have been averted, and the German Boxing Association (DBV) can also look to the future with optimism.

"This is a milestone. All the efforts have paid off," said DBV President Jens Hadler happily: "This brings peace and planning security." After the exclusion of the International Boxing Association (IBA) in June 2023, boxing was left without an Olympic world association, and one of the oldest sports at the Los Angeles 2028 Games had already been dropped from the program. With World Boxing, the IOC has now found the "reliable partner" that IOC President Thomas Bach had called for to secure the Olympic future until "early in 2025".

World Boxing now has 78 national associations from five continents, and the DBV is a founding member. The world association was founded in 2023 against the backdrop of the conflict between the IBA and the IOC. The IOC suspended the Russian-controlled IBA in 2019 for serious misconduct and excluded it in June 2023.

After the exclusion of the IBA, the Olympic boxing tournaments in 2021 in Tokyo and 2024 in Paris were organized by the IOC itself. Officials and athletes expressed concern. "If boxing does not remain an Olympic sport, boxing is dead," said German bronze medalist Nelvie Tiafack in Paris. Now the provisional recognition of World Boxing "gives the athletes a good feeling. Most of the way has been taken," says Hadler, who expects further national associations to join.

Bach had made it clear in Paris that boxing would only be part of the Olympic program in Los Angeles if there was a reliable partner: "Now the national boxing associations have to make their choice. It's up to them." And the IOC was very satisfied with the development of World Boxing.

In its justification, the IOC stated that from a sporting perspective, World Boxing had "proven that 62 percent of boxers and 58 percent of boxing medalists at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games belong to national federations that are members of World Boxing." In addition, the federation applies the "procedure for maintaining sporting integrity" and has "created the structure and documentation for good corporate governance." World Boxing had also "successfully applied for the status of a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Code," according to the IOC.