Boxing’s difficult path back to the Olympic Games may find a shortcut in the Lima 2027 Pan American Games, but it will first require the payment of a toll: a majority affiliation of that sport’s Pan American federations to World Boxing.
“I think we will soon consolidate the return of boxing to the Olympic world,” said Chilean Neven Ilic, IOC member and president of Panam Sports, the sports organization that brings together the Olympic federations of 41 countries, in an interview in EFE.
Ilic, who has led the entity since 2017 and was re-elected in October for a third and final term until 2028, said that on Wednesday he sent a letter to the Olympic committees notifying them that “Considering of Panam Sports the inclusion of boxing in the 2027 Pan American Games.
“There is a view in the IOC that boxing needs to continue within our Olympic activities because it is very relevant for many countries, and especially for America,” declared the 62-year-old manager.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has set a deadline of 2025 to determine the future of boxing at the Olympic Games after ignoring the International Boxing Association (IBA) in October 2023, headed by Russian Umar Kremlev.
The reasons? Suspicions of corruption, financial irregularities and political interference.
“The IBA is not related to the International Olympic Committee, so the sport of boxing is now outside of any activity, both from the IOC and from Panam Sports and Centro Caribe Sports,” said Ilic.
He explained that for these regional organizations, “it is an obligation to include sports whose international federations are overseen by the IOC.”
After ignoring the IBA, the IOC made way for World Boxing, the organization led by Dutchman Boris Van Der Vorst and recently joined by the legendary Gennadiy Golovkin.
World Boxing has the challenge of rallying each country’s federations to include the sport in the Los Angeles 2028 program, which so far includes 36 other disciplines.
“We have only one mission, and that is to keep boxing at the center of the Olympic movement,” Van Der Vorst said recently.
The IOC has been emphatic in saying that without a credible and recognized governing body, boxing has no place on the agenda of the Los Angeles Games.
Boxing has been included in all Olympic programs since St. Louis 1904 and has not missed any edition since its absence in Stockholm 1912.
Side effects
If the course is not straightened until next year, important medal opportunities will be lost for Cuba, which won gold and bronze at Paris 2024, as well as Mexico, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Brazil, as all these countries are there are also representatives. this year on the podium.
For countries like Mexico, Argentina and Colombia this will be a huge blow to their future medal aspirations.
In its Olympic history, Mexico has won 14 medals (2 gold, 4 silver and 8 bronze), making boxing the second most prolific sport, behind only diving’s 17.
For Argentina, it is, by far, the sport in which they have reaped the most: 24, more than double the 11 contributed by sailing.
Colombia won 5 medals: 4 bronze and one silver.
Other powers, such as the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Brazil, India and Australia, also made an assessment of the possible damage and therefore decided to break away from the IBA to join the ranks of World Boxing.
Ilic’s negotiations
The president of Panam Sports met last week in Lausanne with members of World Boxing to determine how he can help find solutions.
Next, last Wednesday, Ilic sent a letter to the 41 Olympic committee informing that Panam Sports is considering including boxing in the agenda of the Pan American Games to be hosted by Lima in 2027.
For that to happen, there must be a minimum number of 21 national federations recognized by World Boxing. Currently there are 17.
“It is the mandatory path they have to take, if they want to be part of our Olympic activities on the continent and worldwide with boxing,” he explained.
If the goal is met, the next challenge will be waiting for the IOC to provisionally designate World Boxing next March as the new governing body of Olympic boxing.
“With these two tools, I believe that boxing will return to the path it was on,” said the president of Panam Sports, although he also left two questions in the medium term.
“I don’t know if it will be simple for some federations that are in IBA to want to close their relationship and switch to WB,” Ilic admitted when evaluating the panorama in America.
In the best case scenario, with massive success towards World Boxing, this entity should show muscle to promote tournaments and qualifying events.
The exchange of blows
In August, the IBA filed a complaint against the IOC with the Swiss Competition Commission for alleged “abuse of a dominant position” in the organization and promotion of the Olympic Games.
The IOC responded with a letter to all national committees urging them not to include boxing federations that remain aligned with the IBA.
Next, the IBA, headed by Russian billionaire Umar Kremlev, called on its affiliated federations to join legal action against the IOC in Switzerland.
“If we work together, we will have more options to end this pressure from the IOC and the national committees,” the Kremlin entity declared in a desperate attempt to maintain its influence in boxing.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Robert Maynard, and I am a passionate journalist with experience in sports writing. For the last few years, I have been writing for Today Times Live. My main focus has been on sports-related stories and features. With my strong background in journalism and extensive knowledge of the industry, I am able to provide readers with well-crafted pieces that are both informative and engaging.
