2024

Sky is the limit as World Champion Tammara Thibeault looks forward to her second Olympic Games and new role with World Boxing

To mark the up-and-coming one-year anniversary of the launch of World Boxing (on 13 April 2023), we spoke to the reigning middleweight World Champion, Tammara Thibeault, about her recent decision join World Boxing’s Athletes Committee.

The 27-year-old boxed for Canada at the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan and will compete at her second Olympics this summer having secured her place at Paris 2024 when she won gold at the 2023 Pan-American Games.

Q: Why did you choose to join World Boxing’s Athlete Committee?

A:  I chose to join World Boxing’s athlete committee because I truly believe that the athlete’s voice makes a difference. We are always the ones in the mix and we are the ones at competitions.  We need to be able to work together to create the best environment for athletes to feel safe and to be able to perform. It is a unique position and it makes all the difference.

As the chair of Boxing Canada’s first athlete committee, I have experience of this and have been able to work with our board and make changes necessary so that the athletes feel like they have a voice and that they are heard.

Q:  What would you like to achieve in your work with World Boxing?

A:  Right now, since it’s just the beginning of the Athlete Committee, the first thing I would like to do is represent World Boxing’s values and be the voice of the athletes and help ensure that athletes feel listened to and heard, and that World Boxing is an organisation for the athletes.

Q: Why is it important that boxing remains part of the Olympic Movement?

A:  Boxing is a special sport. It is one of the original sports of the Olympics and it is important that it remains so. The Olympics provides inspiration for boxers and is a huge platform for the sport. To lose its place at the Olympics would do massive damage to boxing.

Q: Paris will be your second Olympic Games – what are you most looking forward to?

I am looking forward to representing Canada on the international stage and taking part in a real Olympics – because unfortunately Tokyo took place during the pandemic – in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Q: What has been the highlight of your boxing career so far?

I would have to say the whole the 2022 season. I accomplished quite a few things in that season when I won gold at the American Boxing Confederation (AMBC) Championships, the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games, all in a row, and I did it while having fun.

It was the highlight of my career and a beautiful year. I got to travel the world, meet incredible people and be a good icon for boxing and women’s boxing.

Q: Who has been the biggest influence on your sporting career?

The biggest influence on my career is not a boxer – the biggest influence is my father. He was an athlete and played American football. What he has brought to me in my career is my work ethic, my determination and my will to just be the best version of myself. He taught me that the sky is the limit.

Statement from World Boxing following the decision by CAS to uphold the IOC’s decision to withdraw recognition of IBA

 “World Boxing welcomes the decision by CAS to withdraw recognition of IBA and the subsequent comments by the IOC in which it expressed a desire to partner with a new International Federation that is committed to ‘good governance, the integrity of competitions, transparency of finances and accounts, and autonomy’. 

“That International Federation is World Boxing. The decision by CAS and the comments from the IOC send a clear and unambiguous message to all National Federations that if they want boxers from their country to have the life-changing opportunity to continue to compete at future Olympic Games then they must now support and seek to join World Boxing, which is the last remaining hope for the sport to retain its status as an Olympic sport beyond Paris 2024. 

“There is no alternative and the IOC has made it clear that the ‘National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and National Boxing Federations hold the future of Olympic boxing in their own hands’. 

“Any National Federation or NOC that continues to think its boxers will have an Olympic future elsewhere and without joining World Boxing is making a grave error that will be ruinous for the sport and hugely damaging for its boxers. 

“For boxing to lose its place at the Olympic Games would be devastating for boxers at all levels in every part of the world. The Olympic Games provides inspiration and an unmatched platform for the sport. Without the Olympic Games, boxing and boxers will suffer. Fewer people will come into the sport at the grassroots and there will be less opportunities for elite boxers. This will damage the sport at every level and cannot be allowed to happen. 

“This is an urgent situation and the clock is ticking. The leaders of boxing’s National Federations now have a critically important decision to make and we urge every one of them that cares about boxers and the future of the sport to apply to join and support World Boxing in its efforts to ensure boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic Movement, before it is too late.” 

World Boxing publishes Strategic Plan 2024-28

World Boxing, the new International Federation set-up to ensure boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic Movement, has published its Strategic Plan 2024-28.

The plan was formally approved by World Boxing’s members at its inaugural Congress and details how the organisation will: keep boxing at the heart of the Olympic movement; ensure the interests of boxers are put first; deliver sporting integrity and fair competitions; create a competition structure designed in the best interests of the boxers and operate according to strong governance standards and transparent financial management.

The plan is built around the delivery of five strategic objectives and sets out a series of action plans detailing how it will:

  • Establish World Boxing as a recognised credible organisation
  • Operate best practice governance
  • Deliver world standard competitions
  • Increase the worldwide media exposure of boxing
  • Achieve financial stability and sustainability 

It contains sections on World Boxing as a business, the core business product of boxing and details the vision, mission and values of World Boxing.

Simon Toulson, Secretary General, World Boxing, said: “Since it was publicly launched in April 2023 World Boxing has achieved an enormous amount in a short time. It has established itself as a credible international sports organisation with nearly 30 member National Federations from all five Continents and staged its inaugural Congress in which it held open, transparent and fair elections that mean World Boxing now has a high-quality Executive Board with many years of boxing experience.

“The Strategy sets out a roadmap for how World Boxing will build on this and deliver on its central goals of ensuring its creates a better future for the sport and ensures boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic Movement.”

World Boxing’s Strategic Plan 2024-28 can be viewed here.

Pueblo in the USA to host the second World Boxing Cup event of 2024 as boxers prepare for last chance to qualify for Paris Olympics

The second World Boxing Cup of 2024 will take place at the Pueblo Convention Center, Pueblo, Colorado, 16-20 April 2024.

More than 150 boxers from over 20 countries are registered to take part in the event, which is officially known as the ‘World Boxing Cup: USA Boxing International Invitational’.

National Olympic Committees (NOCs) that have registered teams to take part in the event include: Algeria, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, New Zealand, Nigeria, Panama, Philippines, Sweden, Chinese Taipei, US Virgin Islands and the Boxing Refugee Team.

The home nation line-up is expected to include the six boxers that have already qualified for Paris 2024:

Jennifer Lozano (50kg), Jajaira Gonzalez (60kg), Morelle McCane (66kg), Jahmal Harvey (57kg), Omari Jones (71 kg) and Joshua Edwards (92kg+).

The Pueblo event follows January’s ‘World Boxing Cup: GB Open – Sheffield 2024’ in England and is part of the new World Boxing Cup format which enables male and female boxers accrue ranking points over several stages of competition throughout the calendar year. It culminates in a year-end Finals event when the stage winners and other top-ranked boxers will compete for the World Boxing Cup trophy.

The five-day competition will take place at all 13 Olympic weight categories, seven for men and six for women. There will be two sessions per day [at 12:00 and 18:00 Mountain Time (MT) / 19:00 and 01:00 Central European Time (CET)] for the first four days and one session for the final day of action (12:00 MT). 

Many of the participating countries will use the event in Pueblo as preparation for the 2nd World Qualification Tournament in Bangkok, Thailand, 25 May – 2 June 2024, which will be the final chance for boxers to secure qualification for Paris 2024.

The draw for the World Boxing Cup: USA Boxing International Invitational, which is being delivered by USA Boxing in association with World Boxing, will take place on 15 April 2024 and all of the event information, include draw sheets, results, updates, photographs and a live stream of the action can be viewed at: https://www.usaboxing.org/2024-international-invitational.

World Boxing’s President, Boris van der Vorst, said:  “We are committed to delivering high quality competition opportunities for boxers and I am very grateful to our colleagues at USA Boxing for hosting this event.  I am very confident that it will build on the success of the recent World Boxing Cup in England and will provide excellent competition for all of the boxers and support the preparation of those men and women that are planning to compete in the final Olympic qualifying event in Thaliand in May.”

Mike McAtee, Executive Director/Chief Executive, USA Boxing, added: “USA Boxing is excited to host a preview of this summer’s Olympic Games on our home field with World Boxing. This competition will provide boxers with a high-quality experience before representing their respective countries in Paris, with many of these boxers expected to be boxing for a Olympic gold medal this summer. We look forward to showcasing amateur Olympic-style boxing to our community and building a fan base for our team and the other teams heading into Paris.”

More news on the World Boxing Cup: USA Boxing International Invitational will be posted on World Boxing’s social channels in the build-up to the event and throughout the competition at:

Statement from World Boxing following the IOC Executive Board Meeting

“World Boxing welcomes the clear position provided by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at its press conference (19 March 2024) on the status of boxing at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

“The comments made by the IOC send a clear message to Boxing National Federations that they must join and support a new International Federation immediately if boxing is to remain on the Olympic Programme, or the sport will not be part of future editions of the Olympic Games after Paris 2024, which will have devastating consequences for young boxers, at all levels, across the world.

“World Boxing aims to be the new International Federation and has been established with the primary aim of ensuring that boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic Movement.  It has been founded on the principles of integrity, honesty and excellence and is underpinned by rigorous governance practices, designed to put the interests of boxers first and ensure that the integrity of the sport is guaranteed and competition is fair.

“World Boxing will seek recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and, should it choose to engage with us, we are committed to working constructively and collaboratively with National Federations and all stakeholders to develop a pathway that will preserve boxing’s place on the Olympic programme at Los Angeles 2028 and beyond.

“With its comments, the IOC has sent a direct and unequivocal message to everyone connected with the sport and we call upon all National Federations and everyone that cares about boxers and the future of boxing to join and support World Boxing and work with us to ensure that boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic Movement.”

49 boxers secure their place at Paris 2024 Olympic Games at 1st World Qualification Tournament in Italy

Athlete 365

The boxing action at the 1st World Qualification Tournament came to a close yesterday after nine days and more than five hundred bouts at the E-Work Arena in Busto Arsizio, Italy.

All 47 fights on the final day had an Olympic quota place up for grabs.  Two other places had been awarded on Saturday in the women’s lightweight (60kg) category, meaning a total of 49 places at Paris 2024 were handed-out in the course of the nine-day tournament.

Over 600 male and female boxers, representing 113 National Olympic Committees (NOC’s) and the Boxing Refugee Team as well as Individual Neutral Athletes, took part in the event which featured competition across seven men’s weight categories and six for women.

It saw history being made as Cindy Ngamba became the first ever member of the Boxing Refugee Team member to secure Olympic qualification when she defeated Kazakhstan’s, Valentina Khalzova, via a third-round stoppage in their middleweight (75kg) contest.

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan were the most successful nations at the event, winning five quota places reach.  The home nation secured the second-most as four Italian boxers booked a place in Paris.

The 1st World Qualification Tournament followed four Continental Qualifying events (covering Europe, Africa, Asia, The Americas and Oceania) which took place in 2023 and means that 188 boxers (92 men and 96 women) have now secured their place at this summer’s Olympic Games.

The second and final world qualifier will be held in Bangkok, Thailand from 26 May – 2 June 2024. 

51 Olympic berths are on offer at the event, with the final nine slots being granted as Universality places.

All of the results from the 1st World Qualification Tournament can be viewed at: https://boxing.athlete365.org/boxing-road-to-paris-2024/1st-world-qualification-tournament/

Updates from the event can viewed at World Boxing’s social channels:

47 places at Paris 2024 Olympic Games on offer today as quarter-finals get underway in 1st World Qualification Tournament in Italy

Photo: Athlete 365

Forty-seven places at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be up for grabs today (Monday 11 March 2023) in the final day of action at the 1st World Qualification Tournament in Busto Arsizio, Italy.

47 bouts are scheduled to take place across 13 weight classes over two sessions of boxing. 

It will take the number of boxers that have qualified for Paris at this event to 49 after Chelsey Heijnen from the Netherlands and Kosovo’s Donjeta Sadiku secured Olympic qualification in the women’s 60kg semi-finals on Saturday.  The two losing semi-finalists, Miroslava Jedinakova of Slovakia and Italy’s Alessia Mesiano, will compete in a ‘box-off’ in the evening session for the third Olympic qualification slot at 60kg.

All of the action is being streamed live at https://olympics.com/en/sport-events/2024-boxing-1st-world-qualification-tournament-busto-arsizio/broadcasting-schedule

The first session of boxing will start at 13:00 (CET).  The second session will take place from 19:00.

Full details of the schedule for today’s action can be viewed at https://boxing.athlete365.org/boxing-road-to-paris-2024/1st-world-qualification-tournament/.

Draw sheets and all results to-date from the 1st World Qualification Tournament can be viewed at: https://boxing.athlete365.org/boxing-road-to-paris-2024/1st-world-qualification-tournament/

World Boxing will also be posting updates throughout the competition on its social channels:

World Boxing’s Executive Board approves the nominations of Tammara Thibeault and Caitlin Parker to join its Athlete Committee

(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
(Photo by Athlete365)

Canada’s Tammara Thibeault and Caitlin Parker from Australia have joined World Boxing’s Athlete Committee after their nominations were approved at a recent meeting of its Executive Board.

The pair, who both competed at the 2020 Olympic Games and have qualified for Paris 2024, join Athlete Representatives, Lauren Price and Richard Torrez Jr, who sit on World Boxing’s Executive Board, to form a cohort of boxers that will strengthen the athlete focus of the organisation.

The Athletes Committee is responsible for representing the views of boxers worldwide and providing advice, guidance and opinions to World Boxing.  The members of the Athletes Committee are regularly consulted on relevant matters to ensure the views of boxers are reflected in World Boxing’s decision making. They also represent the organisation publicly and are invited to attend and contribute to meetings of the Executive Board and the World Boxing Congress.

The two new additions to the Athletes Committee both compete at middleweight (75kg) and have previously boxed each other, most recently in the semi-final of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games when the Canadian edged the bout and went on to take gold. 

Tammara Thibeault is also the current 2023 Pan-American Games champion and won gold at the 2022 world championships in Istanbul.  In addition to her bronze from Birmingham, Caitlin Parker, won a silver medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and a bronze at the 2014 Youth Olympics. 

Tammara Thibeault said: “I am honoured to be a part of World Boxing’s future and thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute to the effort to keeping Olympic boxing in the Games. As we manage this significant shift in our sport’s leadership, it is up to athletes like us to speak for future generations. In this new chapter of amateur boxing history, I am dedicated to bringing about change through integrity and excellence.”  

Caitlin Parker added: “I am looking forward to positively contributing to the future of World Boxing, as we work together to secure boxing as part of the Olympic programme.”

Both boxers were approved as members of the Athlete Committee at the most recent meeting of the World Boxing Executive Board on 26 February 2024.

The Executive Board meeting made decisions on a wide range of measures to enable the organisation to build on the success it has achieved since it was publicly launched in April 2023. They included:

  • World Boxing’s Strategic Plan 2024-2028 was formally approved.  This will be published shortly on the World Boxing website
  • The approval of World Boxing’s new Competition Rules which will be published shortly on the World Boxing website
  • The new certification process for Referees and Judges (R and J’s) was formally approved and will be rolled-out amongst National Federation from March 2024 onwards
  • It was confirmed that the next World Boxing Cup event will be in the USA in April 2024 and that discussions are at an advanced stage with a member country to host the season finale of this competition in November or December 2024
  • An update was provided on recent meetings hosted by members of the Executive Board with key sporting stakeholders in Lausanne
  • A series of decisions were made in relation to key committees:
    • Boxing Scotland board member, Daryl Broadfoot, was added to the Marketing and Commercial Development Commission
    • The Sports and Competition Committee was given the go ahead to create two sub-commissions, a Technical Commission and a Coaches Commission, for which member National Federation will be asked to submit suitable candidates
    • The composition of the Continental Confederation Commission was approved by the Executive Board
    • The Medical and Anti-Doping Committee committed to hold a face-to-face meeting at the next World Boxing Cup event in the USA
    • The Finance Committee outlined the financial planning and auditing process

Boris van der Vorst, President of World Boxing said: “Ensuring the views of athletes are at the centre of decision making is core to World Boxing’s way of working and it is fantastic that we have been able to attract two such high calibre candidates as Tammara and Caitlin to join the organisation.  They have both achieved a great deal, inside and outside of the ring, and I am sure they will make a fantastic contribution to the future development of World Boxing.

“As the outputs from Executive Board meeting demonstrate World Boxing continues to make excellent progress across all aspects of its operations, including competition delivery, officiating, commercial activities and continuing to enhance the infrastructure of our organisation.  

“We have come a long way in a very short space of time and I have no doubt, that with the ongoing support of our colleagues and our members, World Boxing will continue to go from strength-to-strength as we work towards our goal of ensuring boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic Movement.” 

World Boxing was launched in April 2023 and aims to ensure that boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic movement.  It will seek recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and plans to work constructively and collaboratively to develop a pathway that will preserve boxing’s ongoing place on the Olympic competition programme at Los Angeles 2028 and beyond.

27 National Federations, covering every continent that participates in Olympic-style boxing are members of World Boxing.  The first cohort was made-up of USA Boxing, New Zealand Boxing, Boxing Australia, GB Boxing, England Boxing and the Dutch Boxing Federation.  They were joined in August 2023 by the National Federations for boxing in Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Honduras and Sweden.  The next two groups to join included Denmark, Mongolia, Panama, French Polynesia, Finland, Iceland, Jamaica, Nigeria, Norway and the Czech Republic.  The most recent cohort of members in October 2023 was comprised of Philippines, Scotland, Wales, Suriname and the US Virgin Islands.