WORLD BOXING has dealt a devastating blow to the International Boxing Association (IBA), taking on six new national federations to further boost its Olympic credibility.
The breakaway group was granted provisional recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last month, earning itself the responsibility to organise Olympic boxing ahead of, and hopefully during, the Los Angeles Games in 2028.
After the IBA lost its Olympic recognition in 2023, with the IOC expressing concerns over governance issues and a lack of financial transparency, World Boxing was formed with the aim to keep boxing at the Games.
So far, it would appear that the widely trusted body is doing just that, with the organisation revealing yesterday that it has now increased its membership to 84 countries.
The news arrived during the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Nis, Serbia, where fighters from four of World Boxing’s newly-acquired federations – China, Türkiye, Greece and Slovakia – are still competing.
With quarterfinal bouts taking place later today, the timing of this announcement remains interesting at the very least.
Not only that, but after speaking with a representative from one of the six federations that have made the switch, Boxing News was informed that they were unaware of their membership status prior to the official confirmation.
However which way you choose to dice it up, the announcement will have come as a sizable shock to the IBA, with the Russian-backed body most likely believing that all six nations would have kept their allegiance for the duration of this year’s World Championships.
Joining the above-mentioned federations that have crossed over to World Boxing, meanwhile, are Sudan and Montenegro.
