AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships Medalists
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The International Boxing Association (IBA), previously known as the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur (AIBA), is a sports organization that sanctions
amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...
and
professional boxing Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...
matches and awards world and subordinate championships. It is one of the oldest boxing federations in the world, coming into existence after the
1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...
. The IBA consists of five continental confederations, the
African Boxing Confederation The International Boxing Association (IBA), previously known as the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur (AIBA), is a sports organization that sanctions amateur boxing, amateur and professional boxing matches and awards world and subordinate ...
,
American Boxing Confederation The International Boxing Association (IBA), previously known as the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur (AIBA), is a sports organization that sanctions amateur and professional boxing matches and awards world and subordinate championships. ...
,
Asian Boxing Confederation The Asian Boxing Confederation (ASBC) is the Asian not-for-profit governing body with 42 member countries in amateur boxing. It is a member of the world amateur boxing governing body International Boxing Association (IBA). The ASBC is headed by ...
,
European Boxing Confederation The European Boxing Confederation (EUBC) is the European governing body in amateur boxing. It is a member of the world governing body AIBA. History It came into existence on the adoption of its constitution on February 16, 2009, taking over the ...
, and Oceania Boxing Confederation. As of 2021, the IBA included 198 national boxing federations. It organises the biennial
IBA World Boxing Championships IBA World Boxing Championships may refer to: * IBA Men's World Boxing Championships The IBA Men's World Boxing Championships are biennial amateur boxing competitions organised by the International Boxing Association (IBA, previously known as AI ...
. The IBA's status in the boxing community began to decline in the 2000s, and moreso in the 2010s and 2020s; multiple presidencies—such as those of Anwar Chowdhry (1986–2006),
Wu Ching-kuo Wu Ching-kuo (; born October 18, 1946) is a Taiwanese sports executive who was the president of the International Boxing Association (amateur), International Boxing Association (AIBA), a post he held from 2006 to 2017. He resigned from his posit ...
(2006–2017), and Umar Kremlev (2020–present)—have been impacted by governance issues and allegations of corruption, such as concerns over the integrity of officiating and scoring in Olympic boxing. Financial mismanagement during Wu Ching-kuo's tenure caused the association to incur a large amount of unpaid debt, resulting in his departure in 2017, and being issued a lifetime ban in 2018. In June 2019, the
International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...
(IOC) suspended the association due to governance and financial issues, preventing it from sanctioning
boxing at the Summer Olympics Boxing has been contested at every Summer Olympic Games since its introduction to the program at the 1904 Summer Olympics, except for the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, because Sweden, Swedish law banned the sport at the time. The 2008 Sum ...
; an IOC-organised task force oversaw boxing at the
2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
and
2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...
Summer Olympics. Kremlev was elected in 2020 with a promise of reforms, and the rehabilitation of its relationship with the IOC. Under Kremlev, the IBA instituted a major restructuring of its executive board, introduced a financial assistance program for national federations, added prize money to its World Boxing Championships, and paid off its outstanding debt. It also commissioned an independent report by Richard McLaren that found systemic attempts to manipulate match outcomes for money during the 2016 Summer Olympics. Kremlev's tenure has been controversial, with concerns raised by the IOC over the IBA's increasing ties to
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
after he assumed the presidency (including moving much of its operations to Russia and having state-owned
Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐsˈprom) is a Russian State-owned enterprise, majority state-owned multinational Energy industry, energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. The Gazprom name is a contract ...
as sole sponsor for a period), opposition to the independent appointment of judges and referees, irregularities during subsequent presidential elections, and the controversial disqualifications of
Imane Khelif Imane Khelif (, ; born 2 May 1999) is an Algerian Professional boxing, professional boxer who won the gold medal in the Boxing at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Women's 66 kg, women's 66 kg (welterweight) boxing event at the 2024 Summer Olympics ...
and
Lin Yu-ting Lin Yu-ting (; born 13 December 1995) is a Taiwanese amateur boxer. She has won two gold medals at the IBA World Boxing Championships, in addition to two gold medals at the Asian Games and one at the Asian Amateur Boxing Championships. She comp ...
during the IBA's 2023 world championships. Following the
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
, a group of national federations known as the Common Cause Alliance (CCA) demanded transparency over the IBA's finances and the Gazprom sponsorship, and pledged continued support for boxing as an Olympic event. In October 2022, the IBA lifted a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes competing under their national flags, which had been imposed amid the invasion. Its 2023 world championships faced boycotts from a number of countries, and false statements by the IBA claiming that they were an "approved" qualifying path for the 2024 Summer Olympics. The CCA later evolved into a competing amateur boxing federation known as
World Boxing World Boxing is an international sports organization regulating amateur (Olympic-style) boxing. Formed on 13 April 2023, it currently consists of 106 member federations. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the internationa ...
. In June 2023, the IOC voted to formally revoke its recognition of the IBA, due to a lack of sufficient progress on addressing governance, finance, and corruption concerns since the original suspension; the IBA became the first international federation to ever be expelled from the Olympic movement. The IOC subsequently granted provisional recognition to World Boxing in February 2025.


History


1920–2009

During the
1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...
in Antwerp, representatives from the national associations of England, France, Belgium, Brazil and the Netherlands met in a preliminary consortium for the foundation of an international boxing federation: The Fédération internationale de boxe amateur (FIBA). The official foundation has been celebrated on 24 August. Right after, international competitions appeared in the boxing arena, allowing amateurs to compete in well-known tournaments. In November 1946, a consensus was met to give way for the boxing governing body to regain the loss of credibility due to the behavior of some leading officials in World War II. The FIBA was dissolved and the English Amateur Boxing Association in partnership with the
French Boxing Federation The French Boxing Federation or FFB) is the governing body of both amateur and professional boxing in France. Presidents Emile Grémaux was the President of FFB for a long time. Martin André was the President in 2015. In 2024, Olympic s ...
decided to create the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur (AIBA). The president of the French Boxing Federation, Emile Grémaux, was elected to the position of President. Anwar Chowdhry first became president of AIBA in 1986. While he would be one of the longest-tenured in the AIBA's history, it was one marked by criticism over the association's handling of officiating and judging during boxing at the
Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...
. During a gold medal bout at the
1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...
, American boxer
Roy Jones Jr. Roy Levesta Jones Jr. (born January 16, 1969) is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in four weight classes, including middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight. As an amateur he r ...
controversially lost to
Park Si-hun Park Si-hun (; born December 16, 1965) is a retired South Korean boxer. He won a gold medal in the men's light middleweight category at the 1988 Summer Olympics, being awarded victory over Roy Jones Jr. of the United States even though most obs ...
of host nation South Korea in a disputed, 3–2 decision, despite Jones' dominant performance throughout the match. Amid allegations of bias in judging, Chowdhry oversaw multiple reforms, including the adoption of computerised
scoring SCORE may refer to: *SCORE (software), a music scorewriter program * SCORE (television), a weekend sports service of the defunct Financial News Network *SCORE! Educational Centers *SCORE International, an offroad racing organization *Sarawak Corrido ...
, and alcohol screenings for judges and referees. Despite these changes, controversies surrounding officiating persisted into later Olympics, including accusations of misconduct. At the
1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
,
Daniel Petrov Daniel Bozhilov Petrov () (born 8 September 1971 in Varna) is a Bulgarian former boxer. He won a silver medal at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 and a gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 in the Light Flyweight category. Petrov began his ...
's victory over
Onyok Velasco Mansueto "Onyok" Velasco Jr. (born January 10, 1974) is a Filipino retired boxer, comedian and actor from Bago, Negros Occidental. Competing in the 48 kg category he won a gold medal at the 1994 Asian Games and a silver at the 1996 Summer Ol ...
faced allegations of computer scoring irregularities from Filipino media outlets, although other critics (such as ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'') felt that while Velasco deserved more points, Petrov was still the clear winner. The
International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...
(IOC) began to increase its scrutiny of the AIBA following judging scandals in other Olympic sports, such as
figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the Figure skating at the 1908 Summer Olympi ...
at the
2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 (; Gosiute dialect, Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; ; Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), were an international wi ...
, and
gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...
at the
2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...
. In 2005, the IOC froze US$9 million in funding to the AIBA until it established a "clear timeline and planned actions" for judging reforms; Chowdhry stated that the association was working towards a move to "open" scoring (where judges' scores would be displayed to the audience in real-time in order to provide greater transparency), and was working on changes to how it selects officials ahead of the
2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...
. In 2006,
Wu Ching-kuo Wu Ching-kuo (; born October 18, 1946) is a Taiwanese sports executive who was the president of the International Boxing Association (amateur), International Boxing Association (AIBA), a post he held from 2006 to 2017. He resigned from his posit ...
challenged Chowdhry for the AIBA's presidency, winning the vote 83-79 at the AIBA Congress in
Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...
. The campaign was fraught with controversies, including allegations of bribery from both the Chowdhry and Wu campaigns, and armed bodyguards intimidating voters. Pierre Diakite—a delegate from
Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
—was found dead in an elevator shaft at the hotel where the Congress was hosted, and carrying what was thought to be bribe money. In 2007, AIBA changed its full name to the "International Boxing Association" as part of a rebranding, albeit maintaining "AIBA" as its abbreviated name.


2010–2019

In 2010, AIBA launched the
World Series of Boxing 250px, LA Matadors vs. Moscow Dynamo in Hollywood, CA on 4 December 2011. Both amateur boxers compete without vests or head guards. The World Series of Boxing or WSB was an international boxing tournament that allowed amateur boxers to compete p ...
(WSB), a new semi-professional, international club competition involving teams of amateur boxers. AIBA described the circuit as a "pathway" to professional boxing, aiming to " eunitethe broader boxing world and its grassroots amateur foundation." Competitors would be able to maintain their amateur and Olympic eligibility, and the competitions would also offer a qualification pathway for the Olympics. The WSB would be operated by the commercial company WSB SA on behalf of the AIBA; its main investor was Hong Kong-based First Commitment International Trade. In 2011,
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
reported via whistleblowers that an Azeri national had made a $9 million payment to WSB SA as a bribe, promising two gold medals in boxing at the
2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
in return. AIBA denied the allegations, stating that the payment was from an Azeri investor and "made on a commercial basis and with a view to a commercial return", and that the report "demonstrate a complete misunderstanding of the procedures which lead to the award of Olympic boxing medals and the impossibility of influencing these." Scrutiny over officiating would re-emerge during the 2012 Olympics. In a men's bantamweight Round of 16 bout,
Satoshi Shimizu is a Japanese professional boxer who has held the OPBF featherweight title since 2017. As an amateur, he won the bronze medal in the men's bantamweight division at the 2012 Olympics. Personal career He is currently an employee of a children's ...
of Japan knocked Magomed Abdulhamido of Azerbaijan to the floor six times without referee Ishanguly Meretnyyazov ever issuing a standing-eight count; the judges then awarded the victory to Abdulhamidov. The AIBA overturned the result on appeal and dismissed Meretnyyazov from the Games, ruling that the fight should have been stopped and awarded to Shimizu after three knockdowns. In March 2013, AIBA announced that it would end the mandatory use of headgear in senior men's competitions (19–40 years old) at the national, continental and international levels effective 1 June; it cited studies finding that headgear actually increased the risk of
concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...
s and
head injuries A head injury is any injury that results in trauma to the skull or brain. The terms ''traumatic brain injury'' and ''head injury'' are often used interchangeably in the medical literature. Because head injuries cover such a broad scope of inju ...
, as they provided a false sense of security by encouraging boxers to make harder punches at their opponent's head or attack with their own head, and that they obscured
peripheral vision Peripheral vision, or ''indirect vision'', is vision as it occurs outside the point of fixation, i.e. away from the center of gaze or, when viewed at large angles, in (or out of) the "corner of one's eye". The vast majority of the area in the ...
. The change does not apply to males under 19, nor women, where headguards remain mandatory. At the
2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...
, boxing switched to a 10-point system modelled after professional boxing, with scores counted from a random selection of three out of the five judges after each round, based on criteria such as punches landed and effective aggressiveness. Two results in particular attracted controversy: the defeat of Vasily Levit by Russian
Evgeny Tishchenko Evgeny Andreyevich Tishchenko (; born 15 July 1991) is a Russian professional boxer. He was the inaugural World Boxing Association (WBA) bridgerweight champion but was subsequently stripped after testing positive for banned substance. As an ama ...
in the men's heavyweight gold-medal fight, drawing jeers from the audience, and the defeat of Michael Conlan by Russian Vladimir Nikitin in the men's bantamweight quarter-final. Conlan accused AIBA and the Russian team of cheating; he asked Russian president
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
on
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
, "Hey Vlad, How much did they charge you bro??" The AIBA would remove an unspecified number of judges and referees following the controversy, stating that they "determined that less than a handful of the decisions were not at the level expected" and "that the concerned referees and judges will no longer officiate at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games"; however, the original decision would still remain. In July 2017, Wu began to face scrutiny over the AIBA's finances, including reports that it was facing demands for repayments from investors such as the Azerbaijani company Benkons (a US$10 million loan meant to be repaid in 2013) and First Commitment International Trade (who had invested CHF 19 million in AIBA's marketing arm, but did not receive a return on investment before being shut down and replaced by an agreement with Alisports), and only had $7 million in cash on hand. Its treasurer and finance director resigned, while Wu removed of a member of AIBA's executive committee after they raised concerns over irregularities in its finances. Wu was suspended in October 2017 by the AIBA disciplinary commission, citing his poor financial management and attempts to remove his opponents from the executive committee. On 20 November 2017, Wu announced that he would step down as president effective immediately, with senior vice president Franco Falcinelli replacing him in the interim. In a joint statement, AIBA and Wu stated that they had "amicably agreed to resolve the management issues within AIBA and to withdraw and terminate all related pending procedures before civil courts and AIBA disciplinary commission." In December 2017, the IOC expressed concerns about the governance of AIBA under Wu Ching-kuo's leadership, and reaffirmed these concerns in an IOC Executive Board decision in February 2018. In October 2018, AIBA issued lifetime bans to Wu and former executive director Ho Kim, after a report documented "gross negligence and financial mismanagement of affairs and finances". In November 2018, Gafur Rakhimov was elected the new president of AIBA, beating
Serik Konakbayev Serik Kerimbekuly Konakbaev (, ''Serık Kerımbekūly Qonaqbaev''; ; born October 25, 1959, in Pavlodar, Kazakh SSR) is a retired Kazakh amateur boxer, who represented the USSR at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Soviet Unio ...
. In June 2019, the IOC voted to suspend its recognition of AIBA as the governing body for the sport, stripping AIBA of any involvement in the Olympic Games. The IOC oversaw the qualification events and the boxing tournament at the 2020 Summer Olympics through a task force chaired by
Morinari Watanabe is a Japanese businessman who has served as president of the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique since January 2017. Prior to his election in October 2016, he served as general-secretary of the Japan Gymnastics Association (2009–16) and ...
, president of the
International Gymnastics Federation The International Gymnastics Federation ( French: ''Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique'', abbr. FIG) is the body governing competition in all disciplines of gymnastics. Its headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was founded on 23 ...
. The task force adopted the AIBA's technical rules, albeit with some amendments to eligibility requirements and to improve transparency in judging and scoring. Rakhimov stepped down on 15 July 2019, amid scrutiny of his presence on a U.S. Treasury Department sanctions list for alleged ties to a criminal organization; he stated that there was an "urgent need for my continued presence in the defence process of the case, which is related to the politicised accusations against me." Mohamed Moustahsane of Morocco served as an interim president during this time.


2020–2021

An Extraordinary AIBA Congress was held
virtually In mathematics, especially in the area of abstract algebra that studies infinite groups, the adverb virtually is used to modify a property so that it need only hold for a subgroup of finite index. Given a property P, the group ''G'' is said to b ...
in December 2020 to elect a new president, with the ballot contested between Moustahsane, Dutch Boxing Federation president Boris van der Vorst, and Umar Kremlev of the
Boxing Federation of Russia The Russian Boxing Federation (RBF) () is the governing body of both Olympic-style and professional boxing in Russia. The Federation was founded on 1 February 1992 after the dissolution of the USSR Boxing Federation. The RBF is the member of the In ...
. On 12 December 2020, Kremlev was elected as president of AIBA, receiving 57.33% of the vote. Kremlev had declared himself "the most clean candidate" after reports that the IOC had concerns over some of the candidates; Kremlev promised reforms, efforts to reinstate the AIBA's status with the IOC, and to pay off its debt. A new constitution was adopted the next day, creating five new committees: the Coaches Committee, the Champions and Veterans Committee, the Competition Committee, the Women's Committee, and the Medical and Anti-Doping Committee. The 32-member executive committee was replaced with a 22-member board of directors; new members would be elected rather appointed by the president. The Medical and Anti-Doping Committee renewed AIBA's agreement with the
International Testing Agency The International Testing Agency, often referred to by the acronym ITA, is an independent organisation constituted as a non-profit foundation which implements anti-doping programs for international sports federations, major event organizers ...
(ITA). In 2021, Olympic champion, two-time World champion István Kovács was appointed General Secretary of AIBA. A program of financial assistance to national federations was also introduced. In March 2021, AIBA appointed Ulrich Haas to lead the AIBA's Independent Governance Reform Group. On 7 April 2021, AIBA's new management signed a cooperation agreement with Russian state-owned energy company
Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐsˈprom) is a Russian State-owned enterprise, majority state-owned multinational Energy industry, energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. The Gazprom name is a contract ...
, through which it became the organization's "General Partner". AIBA stated they had paid off all debts, including that of Benkons. On May 28, 2021, AIBA signed a collaboration agreement with the
International Military Sports Council The International Military Sports Council (IMSC; , CISM) is an international sports association, established in 1948 and headquartered in Brussels. It is the world's second-largest multi-discipline sports organisation, after the International Ol ...
. In September 2021, AIBA released an independent report commissioned from Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, which had found that bouts leading up to and during the
2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...
had been manipulated. The report found bouts had been manipulated for money (up to $250,000), the perceived benefit of AIBA, or to thank National Federations, their Olympic committees, or hosts of competitions for their financial support and political backing. At the 2021 AIBA World Boxing Championships, the AIBA increased the number of weight classes for men and women to 13 and 12, respectively. For the first time, cash prizes were introduced for medalists as well, with $100,000 for gold medals, $50,000 for silver, and $25,000 for both bronze medals; Kremlev stated that boxers should be "successful in the ring, but also self-sufficient and prosperous". In November 2021, the Independent Governance Reform Group recommended the replacement of the majority of AIBA's board of directors and a further reduction in membership to 18, citing a "severe loss of trust by major stakeholders, including the IOC" due to "poor or non-existent monitoring, investigation and prosecution of integrity issues". It also recommended the addition of a liaison officer as a point of contact between AIBA and the IOC, and the replacement of the Ethics and Disciplinary committees with a Boxing Integrity Unit, which would operate independently of AIBA. These amendments among others, including term limits and new eligibility criteria for board members, were adopted in an Extraordinary Congress in December 2021. To mark the association's 75th anniversary, AIBA also unveiled a new logo and officially adopted "IBA" as its abbreviated name. In December 2021, the IOC provisionally dropped boxing and two other sports from the
2028 Summer Olympics The 2028 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 2028 or LA 28, is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place July 14–30, 2028, in the United States. Los Angeles ...
, pending the resolution of governance issues in their respective federations.


2022

The
Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
in 2022 had a notable impact on the perception of the IBA, and the impact of that event can be seen in both the attitudes of the IBA and towards the IBA and its competitions. Kremlev has been a close ally of Russian president
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
, with ''
Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...
'' having suggested that Kremlev's IBA presidency was "an opportunity to promote Russia's
soft power In politics (and particularly in international politics), soft power is the ability to co-option, co-opt rather than coerce (in contrast with hard power). It involves shaping the preferences of others through appeal and attraction. Soft power is ...
" in the aftermath of the
Russian doping scandal Systematic doping of Russian athletes has resulted in 51 Olympic medals stripped from Russia (and Russian associated teams), four times the number of the next highest, and more than 30% of the global total. Russia has the most competitors who ...
. Some of the IBA's operations had also been relocated from Switzerland to Russia. The IBA initially followed the IOC's recommendation that Russian and Belarusian athletes not be allowed to compete under their national flags. A consortium known as the
Common Cause Alliance World Boxing is an international sports organization regulating amateur boxing, amateur (Olympic-style) boxing. Formed on 13 April 2023, it currently consists of 106 member federations. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee as t ...
was formed by 18 national federations, demanding that the IBA evaluate the impact of the invasion on itself and the Russian Boxing Federation, and seeking more transparency over its finances and the Gazprom agreement. It also pledged support for preserving boxing as a Summer Olympic sport. The IOC had been concerned about the IBA under Kremlev's leadership, citing the Gazprom sponsorship, Kremlev having spent heavily on apparent self-promotion, and having opposed independent appointment of judges and referees. Prior to the IBA Congress in
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
in May 2022, the IOC sent a letter to the IBA detailing continued concerns for the organisation's "governance, financial sustainability and the proven integrity of the refereeing and judging systems", and noting that it had yet to produce any work on proposed qualification paths for the
2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...
. At the Congress, five presidential election candidates connected to the Common Cause Alliance were deemed ineligible by the Interim Nomination Unit of the Boxing Independent Integrity Unit (BIIU) one day before the vote, accusing them of engaging in prohibited "collaborations" and campaigning outside of the designated period. One of the candidates—Boris van der Vorst (who felt that Kremlev's reform efforts had so far been "superficial")—declared his intent to file an appeal in the
Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; , TAS) is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its courts are located in New York City, Sy ...
(CAS). He cited that the IBA's Disciplinary Committee had approved the candidates, and ruled that the activities of the Common Cause Alliance were supportive of the IBA's mission. Kremlev was re-elected for a four-year term. Indian boxer
Lovlina Borgohain Lovlina Borgohain (born 2 October 1997) is an Indian boxer. She won a bronze medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in the women's welterweight event, becoming only the third Indian boxer to win a medal at the Olympics. She won gold medal at 2023 IB ...
was elected as the chair and a voting member on the board of directors for the IBA's Athletes' Committee. The BIIU decision was overturned by CAS; therefore, a special IBA Congress was held in September 2022 in
Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...
. The IBA's members subsequently voted against a new election, cementing Kremlev's position as the organization's president. During a speech to the Congress, Kremlev began to distance the IBA from the IOC and Olympics, including stating that "Olympic boxing" should be referred to as "IBA boxing", and affirming that "no one else should have influence on the organisation". During the Congress, the IBA also suspended the Ukraine Boxing Federation, accusing it of "government interference". At the 2022 European Junior Boxing Championships afterward, the Ukraine delegation was initially prohibited from competing under its flag due to the suspension, resulting in multiple boxers forfeiting their matches in protest. The IBA subsequently stated that the delegation would be allowed to compete under their flag. The IOC expressed concern over the suspension and the outcome of the vote, and stated that it would be investigated. On 5 October 2022, the IBA lifted its ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes competing under their flags, stating that it "strongly believes that politics shouldn't have any influence on sports." The move faced criticism, with Finland and Sweden stating that they would boycott any IBA-sanctioned event featuring Russian or Belarusian boxers. In November 2022, the IBA signed a cooperation agreement with the
World Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is an international professional boxing organization based in Panama. The WBA awards its world championship title at the professional level. Founded ...
, one of the four major sanctioning bodies in professional boxing.


2023–present

Boxing at the 2024 Summer Olympics The boxing competitions at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris ran from 27 July to 10 August. Preliminary boxing matches occurred at Parc des Expositions de Villepinte, Arena Paris Nord in Villepinte, Seine-Saint-Denis, Villepinte, with the medal ...
was sanctioned by the IOC's Paris 2024 Boxing Unit due to the suspension of the IBA. In December 2022, the IOC announced direct qualifiers incorporating the continental multi-sport events and two world qualification events. Amid growing boycotts of the 2023 IBA World Boxing Championships by nations such as Canada, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States, the IBA announced its own Olympic qualification system in February 2023 that incorporated the World Boxing Championships—which the IBA claimed had been approved by the IOC executive board in 2022. The IBA argued that the exclusion of its championships from the IOC pathways were "against the principles of boxing", and criticized the IOC for having too few qualifying events. Due to the suspension, the IBA did not have the authority to sanction Olympic qualifiers;
USA Boxing USA Boxing is the national governing body for Olympic-style boxing. It is overseen by the United States Olympic Committee and World Boxing, which sets its rules. Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA Boxing is a non-profit organizati ...
accused the IBA of spreading
misinformation Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. Misinformation and disinformation are not interchangeable terms: misinformation can exist with or without specific malicious intent, whereas disinformation is distinct in that the information ...
to "sabotage" the qualification process, and the IOC reiterated that its system was the only approved qualification pathway for the 2024 Olympics. In March 2023, Ajay Singh, President of the
Boxing Federation of India Boxing Federation of India is the official national governing body for amateur boxing in India. It is a member of World Boxing. BFI is headquartered in New Delhi. History In 1925, the first governing body for boxing in India, Bombay Presidency ...
(BFI), was appointed vice-president of the IBA. During the 2023 IBA World Women's Boxing Championships that month, the IBA controversially disqualified Algerian boxer
Imane Khelif Imane Khelif (, ; born 2 May 1999) is an Algerian Professional boxing, professional boxer who won the gold medal in the Boxing at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Women's 66 kg, women's 66 kg (welterweight) boxing event at the 2024 Summer Olympics ...
hours before her gold medal match, and stripped Taiwanese boxer
Lin Yu-ting Lin Yu-ting (; born 13 December 1995) is a Taiwanese amateur boxer. She has won two gold medals at the IBA World Boxing Championships, in addition to two gold medals at the Asian Games and one at the Asian Amateur Boxing Championships. She comp ...
of her bronze medal, both reportedly for failing sex verification tests by having high levels of testosterone; Khelif had defeated a Russian opponent—the then-undefeated Azaliia Amineva—in the round of 16. The IBA claimed that Khelif had tested positive on unspecified DNA tests for XY chromosomes; however this claim has been disputed by Khelif's supporters. A rival governing body known as
World Boxing World Boxing is an international sports organization regulating amateur (Olympic-style) boxing. Formed on 13 April 2023, it currently consists of 106 member federations. It is recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the internationa ...
was launched in April 2023, with its interim board including officials from member organizations of the Common Cause Alliance. USA Boxing was the first national federation to resign from the IBA in favour of exclusively representing World Boxing. The IBA condemned World Boxing as a "rogue organization" whose sole purpose was to destroy the IBA's integrity, and threatened sanctions against national federations, athletes, and officials who participate in its events. In May 2023, Kremlev stated that the IBA's sponsorship with Gazprom had ended in December 2022. He stated that while it was influenced by "recommendations" by other sports bodies, the decision was made independently. On 8 May 2023, the IBA-controlled
European Boxing Confederation The European Boxing Confederation (EUBC) is the European governing body in amateur boxing. It is a member of the world governing body AIBA. History It came into existence on the adoption of its constitution on February 16, 2009, taking over the ...
ordered member federations to withdraw from a tournament being hosted by the Czech Republic due to its violation of EUBC and IBA rules, as members of non-member USA Boxing had been registered as participants. Later that month, the IBA suspended Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Sweden for their involvement in World Boxing, and the Czech Republic for hosting an event including ineligible boxers; van der Vorst—who was named World Boxing's first president—stated that the suspensions were "yet another clear demonstration of how the IBA proclaims its implementation of reforms, such as the establishment of the Integrity Unit, only to subsequently make authoritative and retaliatory decisions that contradict its own regulations." On 22 June 2023 during an Extraordinary IOC Session, the IOC executive board voted to withdraw its recognition of the IBA—marking the first time an international federation has been expelled from the Olympic movement. The board cited that the IBA had not shown sufficient progress on the concerns raised upon its 2019 suspension, including governance, finances, and corruption. The decision was criticised by the IBA, which stated that it was "catastrophic for global boxing and blatantly contradicts the IOC's claims of acting in the best interests of boxing and athlete", and compared it to Nazi Germany's declaration of war on the Soviet Union (whose anniversary fell on the same day). World Boxing welcomed the decision, stating that it provided greater certainty for the future of boxing at the Olympics. The IOC's decision was upheld by CAS in April 2024, prompting the IBA to file another request for appeal, this time with the
Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland The Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland ( ; ; ; ; sometimes the Swiss Federal Tribunal) is the supreme court of the Swiss Confederation and the head of the Swiss judiciary. The Federal Supreme Court is headquartered in the Federal Courth ...
; general secretary Chris Roberts argued that the CAS "was biased in favour of the IOC" In October 2023, the IBA sent a cease and desist notice to World Boxing, asserting a
trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...
on "World Boxing" registered with the
Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property The Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI), based in Bern, is an agency of the federal administration of Switzerland responsible for patents, trademarks, geographical indications, industrial designs and copyright. It is part of th ...
; however, the trademark had been registered a month after World Boxing's formation was announced. That month, IOC president
Thomas Bach Thomas Bach (born 29 December 1953) is a German lawyer, former foil fencer, and Olympic gold medalist. He has served as the ninth president of the International Olympic Committee since 2013, the first ever Olympic champion to be elected to tha ...
stated that a final decision on boxing for the 2028 Olympics was "on hold" pending further developments. In April 2024, the IBA announced the formation of a new professional boxing committee. During the 2024 Summer Olympics, Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting were both cleared to compete by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit under its own criteria. Controversy re-emerged during Khelif's round of 16 match against Italian boxer
Angela Carini Angela Carini (born 6 October 1998) is an Italian amateur boxer. Career Carini won a medal at the 2019 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships. She competed in the women's welterweight division at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and was ...
, who retired after taking two blows from Khelif. The match also resulted in Khelif receiving backlash from those who questioned her biological sex and
gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the in ...
; Khelif was
assigned female at birth Sex assignment (also known as gender assignment) is the discernment of an infant's sex, typically made at birth based on an examination of the baby's external genitalia by a healthcare provider such as a midwife, nurse, or physician. In the ...
, and her gender identity corresponds with that. On 31 July 2024, regarding their 2023 decision, the IBA stated that Khelif and others "did not undergo a testosterone examination but were subject to a separate and recognized test, whereby the specifics remain confidential", and further alleged that they "were found to have competitive advantages over other female competitors". The following day, the IOC issued a statement denouncing the IBA's original decision in 2023 as being "arbitrary" and "taken without any proper procedure." The IOC further stated: On 30 September 2024, the IOC sent a letter to National Olympic Committees (NOCs) requesting that they cease their relationships with bodies affiliated with the IBA, and instead work with those that are, or intend to affiliate, with a boxing federation "established for the purpose of Olympic Boxing." In response, the IBA initiated legal action against the IOC, accusing it of interfering with its operations." In February 2025, the IOC granted provisional recognition to World Boxing as the international federation for amateur boxing. At the
144th IOC Session The 144th IOC Session was held in Costa Navarino, Pylos, Greece, from 18 to 21 March 2025. At this session, Zimbabwean former Olympic swimmer Kirsty Coventry was elected as the tenth President of the International Olympic Committee, becoming the ...
the following month, per the recommendation of the Executive Board, the IOC unanimously voted to reinstate boxing as a Summer Olympic event in 2028.


Competitions

Under the leadership of President
Wu Ching-kuo Wu Ching-kuo (; born October 18, 1946) is a Taiwanese sports executive who was the president of the International Boxing Association (amateur), International Boxing Association (AIBA), a post he held from 2006 to 2017. He resigned from his posit ...
, who ran AIBA from 2006 to 2017, the organization divided its competitions into three categories as part of Wu's overarching goal to govern boxing in all its forms: * AIBA Open Boxing (AOB), formerly known as amateur or Olympic boxing * AIBA Pro Boxing (APB), a professional boxing league *
World Series of Boxing 250px, LA Matadors vs. Moscow Dynamo in Hollywood, CA on 4 December 2011. Both amateur boxers compete without vests or head guards. The World Series of Boxing or WSB was an international boxing tournament that allowed amateur boxers to compete p ...
(WSOB), a semi-professional team tournament contested under a hybrid of amateur- and professional-style rules (including five rounds instead of three, and not wearing
headgear Headgear, headwear, or headdress is any element of clothing which is worn on one's Human head, head, including hats, helmets, turbans and many other types. Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protective clothing, protection against t ...
). Wu's two professional ventures were abandoned by AIBA largely due to the organization's financial woes, which led to Wu's resignation in November 2017. AIBA Pro Boxing staged bouts only from late 2014 to 2016, and the World Series of Boxing abruptly ceased operations amid mounting financial losses after its 2018 season.


Presidents

*
Émile Grémaux Émile Grémaux (1893 – 18 September 1959, in Lille) – boxer, coach and businessman. Long serving President of the French Boxing Federation. First President of International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA The International Boxing Associat ...
- , 1946–1959 * Lieutenant-Colonel Rudyard Russell - , 1962–1978 * Colonel Don Hull - , 1978–1986 * Anwar Chowdhry - , 1986–2006 * Caner Doğaneli - , 2006, act.p. * Wu Ching-kuo - , 2006–2017 * Gafur Rakhimov - , 2017–2019 * Mohamed Moustahsane - , 2019–2020, int.p. * Umar Nazarovich Kremlev - , 2020–present


Events

*
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
(formerly) *
IBA World Boxing Championships IBA World Boxing Championships may refer to: * IBA Men's World Boxing Championships The IBA Men's World Boxing Championships are biennial amateur boxing competitions organised by the International Boxing Association (IBA, previously known as AI ...
*
Youth Olympic Games Youth Olympic Games is an international multi-sport event for athletes aged 15 to 18 years old. Organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Games are held every four years in staggered summer and winter events consistent with ...
(formerly) *
Youth and Junior World Boxing Championships The IBA Youth World Boxing Championships and the IBA Junior World Boxing Championships are amateur boxing competitions organised by the International Boxing Association (amateur), International Boxing Association (IBA), the sport's governing bo ...
*
Boxing World Cup The Boxing World Cup is an international boxing event organized by the International Boxing Association (IBA), featuring boxers competing in different weight divisions. It was held from 1979 to 1998 as an individual competition and from 2002 to 2 ...
(inactive) *
World Series of Boxing 250px, LA Matadors vs. Moscow Dynamo in Hollywood, CA on 4 December 2011. Both amateur boxers compete without vests or head guards. The World Series of Boxing or WSB was an international boxing tournament that allowed amateur boxers to compete p ...
(inactive)


See also

*
Val Barker Trophy The Val Barker Trophy is presented every four years to the most "outstanding boxer" at the Olympic Games. In theory, the award goes to the top "pound for pound" boxer in the Olympics. The winner is selected by a committee of International Boxin ...


References


External links

* {{Authority control Amateur boxing governing bodies
Boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...
Boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...
Sports organizations established in 1946