There is a better possibility that boxing will be part of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. That is because the International Olympic Committee is formally recognizing the new company called World Boxing as of Wednesday.
Why the controversy?
The International Boxing Association has been troubled for an extended period of time according to ESPN. Throughout history, there has been “judging scandals, bizarre leadership decisions, and innumerable financial misdeeds” according to Greg Beacham of the Associated Press. No one can ever forget about the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, when Si-Hun Park shockingly beat American Roy Jones Jr. in the gold medal bout in the light middleweight championship, when it appeared Jones Jr. was by far the more superior boxer.
The IBA was actually suspended in 2019 by the IOC due to issues related to leadership, finances, integrity and judging. Then in 2023, the IBA was permanently banned by the IOC. Another interesting note is that it was the IOC, and not the IBA, that organized the boxing tournaments at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, and the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
There has been a genuine concern that boxing would be like breakdancing, and be completely left off the Olympic program three years from now. Initially, boxing, weightlifting and modern pentathlon were taken out of the 2028 Olympic Games. Weightlifting and modern pentathlon have since returned, but boxing has still not officially been reinstated. Boxing has been at every Olympic games since the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, and was part of the program at the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis and the 1908 Olympic Games in London before that.
Who is the World Boxing President?
The person in charge is Boris van der Vorst of Bunnik, Netherlands. He is the president of the Dutch Boxing Federation and the chair of the European Boxing Federation.
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