Boxing set to win reprieve and stay as Olympic sport for LA 2028

Boxing should be a part of the Los Angeles 2028 Games, according to the executive board of the International Olympic Committee.

Although World Boxing was not included in the original 2022 program, it was given provisional recognition as the sport’s international governing body last month.

The IOC will still need to vote on the recommendation at this week’s session in Greece, but Thomas Bach, the incoming IOC president, anticipates that it will be approved.

Following the provisional recognition of World Boxing in February, Bach said on Monday.

“I’m very confident they will approve this recommendation so that all boxers around the world can be certain they can compete in the Olympic Games in Los Angeles,” said the session.

The biggest obstacle to the sport’s inclusion in the upcoming Games was the establishment of a new global body.

Following the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) suspension as the sport’s world governing body in 2019 due to governance, finance, refereeing, and ethical concerns, the IOC has hosted boxing at the past two Olympics.

In June 2023, the Russian-led IBA was denied its status because it had not implemented reforms.

Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan, both of whom were boxers, were at odds with the IOC during the last year’s Olympics in Paris.

The IOC allowed the fighters to compete and both of them both won gold medals in their weight classes, but the IBA banned them midway through the 2023 World Championships because they had failed gender eligibility tests.

Since its formation in April 2023, World Boxing has grown to 84 members on five different continents, including Great Britain.

Boris van der Vorst, the current boxing champion, applauded the announcement on Monday.

He said, “This is a very significant and significant decision for Olympic boxing and brings the sport one step closer to being reinstated to the Olympic program.”

Everyone who is involved in boxing, at every level, and who understands the crucial role that the sport of boxing will play in keeping it a part of the Olympic movement, is sure to enjoy it.

The IOC Executive Board expressed gratitude to the people who work for us and we look forward to a successful outcome when the IOC Session meets this week.

Only athletes whose national federations were World Boxing members at the time the 2028 Olympics qualifying events began could compete in Los Angeles, according to the IOC.