In recent years, there has been a lot of doubt surrounding boxing’s future as an Olympic sport. But as of this week, this has disappeared. In March 2025, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted unanimously to include boxing in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic program.
Last month, the IOC gave provisional recognition to World Boxing, which was seen as a big step toward including the sport in the Los Angeles Games. With the board’s recent approval, the sport will continue to have an Olympic presence. But what challenges did it have to overcome to get here?
Paris’ Controversy
The Paris Games 2024 still had boxing in place, but it was run by the IOC. This was because the IOC had stripped the International Boxing Association (IBA) of any recognition in 2023. This was due to the association’s failure to implement reforms in finance and boxing governance as a whole. The IBA was operated by Russian businessman Umar Kremlev, who had close ties to the Kremlin.
The IOC’s issues go back to 2019, including problems with refereeing and ethical issues. Impressively, the IBA was also not allowed to be involved in the running of boxing at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, so it was only a matter of time before it was stripped of its recognition. The issue hasn’t ended, though, with the IBA operating a continual feud with the IOC, which is mainly about eligibility rules. Criminal complaints against the body are likely to be put in place.
Of course, the IBA has taken steps to rectify issues and attempted to regain its credibility with the IOC. This even included major changes regarding the leadership aspect, and the body even promised various reforms. But this was not enough. The IOC did not accept the changes, resulting in boxing’s precarious position regarding its inclusion in the upcoming games.
Due to this, the IOC did not include boxing in the 2028 program as they encouraged individual or national boxing federations to create a new global body to monitor boxing, a replacement for the IBA. World Boxing, launched in 2023 following all this, now has 80 national federations as its members, meeting this requirement.
Working Together
All of this has been made possible by World Boxing and the members and people involved. Boris van der Vorst, the World Boxing president, acknowledged the hard work put into place to get boxing back on the 2028 program. He notes that it would not have been possible if it hadn’t been for the commitment of the national federations, coaches, boxers, and more, who were able to come together to push forward and make this change happen. Van der Vorst has also committed and pledged to uphold all requirements the IOC needs to remain an upstanding, reliable sporting body within the Olympic Movement. This is to avoid issues like those with the IBA in 2023.
More Engagement Possible
With the news that boxing is officially part of the upcoming Olympic lineup, betting sites are already preparing to add this to their betting markets. Premier Bet MW already has boxing available for betting, but now it can explore a broader range of betting options. With Olympic betting available, players can gear up for many new and exciting options when 2028 rolls around. And this will add to the thrill and excitement of watching this sport at the Olympics.
World Boxing has achieved what the IBA could not by working together and offering proper transparency and governance. With the IOC’s provisional recognition of World Boxing, boxing has regained its spot on the Los Angeles 2028 program. It shows that the Olympics continues to hold onto the ethics that made it such a popular event in the first place — integrity and transparency. With the help of World Boxing, boxing is back, preserving the fundamental essence of what makes this sport an iconic one, not just at the Olympics but in all events.
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