Governance

World Boxing is to hold an Extraordinary Congress on 1 March 2025 to enable members to formally approve a series of new applications from boxing National Federations that want to join the International Federation.

The Extraordinary Congress will be held virtually and overseen by independent, third-party assessors.

The 55 National Federations that were confirmed as members of World Boxing by the end of its most recent Congress (3 November 2024) will be eligible to participate in the Extraordinary Congress and vote on the new membership applications that have been received since then. 

At present, an additional 17 National Federations have had their membership applications approved by the Executive Board of World Boxing since the Congress in November 2024, however this number is expected to rise by the time of the Extraordinary Congress on 1 March 2025.

The decision to hold an Extraordinary Congress reflects the status of Congress as the highest decision-making body of World Boxing and aims to ensure that all membership applications have been approved by Congress as well as the Executive Board in advance of the forthcoming IOC Session (19-21 March 2025).

Boris van der Vorst, the President of World Boxing, said: “World Boxing is committed to upholding the highest standards of governance and transparency so the Executive Board has decided to hold this Extraordinary Congress to ensure that there is no ambiguity about the number of National Federations that are confirmed members of World Boxing, when the IOC comes to meet at its next Session in March. 

“Congress is the highest authority of World Boxing and by ensuring that every application has been assessed and voted on by Congress, we can be unequivocally clear about the precise size and composition of our membership.”

World Boxing was launched in April 2023 and is committed to ensuring that boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic movement.

On 7 May 2024, it held its first formal meeting with the IOC which signalled the start of collaboration aimed at establishing a pathway for boxing to remain in the Olympic Games.

On 26 September 2024, World Boxing announced that it had set-up an Olympic Commission, chaired by the President of the National Olympic Committee of Kazakhstan, Gennadiy Golovkin, to support and assist the process of developing a pathway to ensuring that boxing is restored to the Games.

World Boxing is to establish a Pan American Boxing Confederation to drive the development and growth of Olympic-style boxing in the Americas.

The Confederation is being formed by 17 National Federations from the Americas that are members of World Boxing and will be known as the Pan American Boxing Confederation.

The new Confederation will hold its inaugural Congress on 15 March 2025 in Panama City, Panama when members will approve the statutes of the new Confederation, elect its Executive Leadership, and establish operating guidelines.

The Congress will also include elections for the Confederation’s Executive Committees including seven positions on the board of directors and four committee Chair positions (Medical & Anti-Doping, Judicial, Audit & Finance, Sport & Competition).

In preparation for the Congress, the Pan American Boxing Confederation’s Interim Board of Directors will work with a third-party provider to establish an independent vetting panel to review all applications for leadership roles.

Boris van der Vorst, the President of World Boxing, said: “The creation of the Pan American Boxing Confederation is further evidence of the progress of World Boxing and the widespread desire for a change that exists across the sport. 

“World Boxing has consistently enjoyed strong support in this part of the world and I would like to express my gratitude to all of our members in the Americas for taking this important step which will deliver huge benefits to the boxers and everyone connected with the sport in the region.”

A statement from the Interim Board of Directors of the Pan American Boxing Confederation said: “We are incredibly excited to see the Americas collaboratively establish the Pan American Boxing Confederation. This a step that further proves the progress made within the sport of Olympic-style boxing over the past few years and further solidifies our Continent within the sport in the years to come.

“Our goal with the creation of the Pan American Boxing Confederation is to provide exceptional competitions for each of our national federations and their many boxers. Olympic-style boxing is a sport built upon hard work and dedication to the craft, and we hope to embody that philosophy with the Pan American Boxing Confederation.”

The President of the Brazilian Boxing Federation (CCBoxe), Marcos Brito, added: “Today, the Americas celebrate a historic day. We take immense pride in announcing the establishment of the Pan American Boxing Confederation, created with great hope and faith in the future of Olympic-style boxing. This endeavour demonstrates to the world the power of collaboration among individuals driven by a common goal, free from personal interests.

“The Pan American Boxing Confederation is dedicated to realizing top-tier competitions and is committed to the development of boxing through mutual collaboration by empowering athletes, coaches, referees, and judges. Through World Boxing, we strive to contribute to the growth of Olympic-style boxing globally.”

The 17 countries whose National Federations will have the opportunity to participate and vote at the inaugural Congress include: Argentina, Barbados, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Caymen Islands, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, Peru, USA, Suriname and the Virgin Islands.

The Pan American Boxing Confederation is the second Continental Confederation established by World Boxing following the announcement in November 2024 that an Asian Confederation is being created.

World Boxing was launched in April 2023 and currently has 68 National Federations as members covering all five Continents that take part in Olympic-style boxing.

It is committed to ensuring that boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic movement and on 7 May 2024, it held its first formal meeting with the IOC which signalled the start of collaboration aimed at establishing a pathway for boxing to remain in the Olympic Games.

On 26 September 2024, World Boxing announced that it had set-up an Olympic Commission, chaired by the President of the National Olympic Committee of Kazakhstan, Gennadiy Golovkin, to support and assist the process of developing a pathway to ensuring that boxing is restored to the Games.

World Boxing has welcomed the creation of a new Asian confederation to represent and promote boxing in the region, marking a significant milestone for the sport.

The new confederation, which will be aligned to World Boxing, is being created following the decision by the President of the Thailand Boxing Association, Mr. Pichai Chunhavajira, to step down from the Asian Boxing Confederation (ASBC) following challenges in securing its independence from the International Boxing Association (IBA).

Boris van der Vorst, the President of World Boxing, hailed this development as a “historic moment” in the evolution of the sport. He said: “We are thrilled to take this step towards empowering boxing in Asia. We are confident that the new Asian boxing confederation will thrive and further elevate the sport in the region.”

The newly formed confederation has received strong support from the World Boxing community. Gennadiy Golovkin, Chair of the World Boxing Olympic Commission and a celebrated champion, warmly welcomed a new Asian boxing confederation.

Golovkin said: “It is a privilege to have a clean breakthrough organization for Asia. Asian Boxing will with dedication advance the sport in Asia and undoubtedly make a lasting impact.”

The formation of a new Asian confederation marks a new era for boxing in the region. It will bring together stakeholders with a shared commitment to the principles of independence, fairness, and ensuring that the interest of athletes are at the centre of decision making.

World Boxing will collaborate with the new Asian boxing confederation to support its goals and ensure the continued success of boxing worldwide.

World Boxing was launched in April 2023.  On 7 May 2024, it held the first formal meeting with the IOC which signalled the start of formal collaboration aimed at establishing a pathway for boxing to remain in the Olympic Games. On 26 September 2024, World Boxing announced that it had set-up an Olympic Commission, chaired by President of the National Olympic Committee of Kazakhstan, Gennadiy Golovkin, to support the process of developing a pathway to ensuring that boxing is restored to the Olympic Games.

World Boxing is introducing a new equipment licence programme to ensure the highest safety standards for boxers in training and competition.

It means boxing products will now undergo rigorous testing to determine their suitability in World Boxing competitions as well as associated training and sparring sessions.

The screening will include chemical and mechanical testing for boxing gloves and boxing headgear. Boxing equipment that successfully passes the strict testing requirements will receive approved certification status valid for a period of four years, including:

• Certificate of use from World Boxing
• Certification from the testing agency
• Appropriate marks for the equipment manufacturer to show they are an approved manufacturer for specific boxing products
• Approved quality logo for the specific product(s) for marketing and sales.

Products that are approved through the testing procedure will be subject to re-evaluation after four years and will also be randomly assessed throughout their certified period. These measures will ensure that quality standards are upheld consistently after the initial testing process.

The Secretary General of World Boxing, Simon Toulson, said: “The safety and wellbeing of athletes is always at the forefront of everything we do at World Boxing and the new equipment licence programme means that boxers will be able to train and compete at the highest level in the knowledge that the equipment they use is of the highest safety standards.

“This is an important initiative in helping to create a safer environment at every level of the sport.”

The programme offers equipment manufacturers the opportunity to have their products quality verified by an impartial external body and endorsed by World Boxing.

It also grants manufacturers access to tender opportunities for future major boxing competitions where World Boxing’s rules apply or where World Boxing’s stakeholders are responsible for the event. Testing is mandatory for manufacturers who wish to submit their products for use in these events and unlicensed products will not be permitted for use in these environments.

World Boxing has agreed to delegate adjudication on all anti-doping violations to the Anti-Doping Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS AAD), a separate entity of the CAS which deals solely with Anti-doping hearings. 

It means that CAS ADD will be the first instance authority to adjudicate on all alleged violations detected by World Boxing’s anti-doping processes and will decide on the appropriate sanction for any breach of the rules.

The agreement with CAS ADD follows the recent announcement that World Boxing has secured a four-year arrangement with the International Testing Agency (ITA) for it to provide all of its anti-doping services and clean sport activities.

Under this arrangement, the ITA will manage World Boxing’s entire programme of in-competition and out-of-competition doping controls, results management, athlete education and the management of Athlete Biological Passports (ABPs) and the processing of Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs).

Any violations detected during the testing process will be passed to CAS ADD who will oversee the adjudication and appeals process. World Boxing has agreed to abide by any decision issued by CAS AAD.

The Secretary General of World Boxing, Simon Toulson, explained: “World Boxing is committed to the highest standards of governance and transparency and having an end-to-end anti-doping process in place that is completely independent of the International Federation demonstrates this.

“By delegating our testing and education programme to the ITA and the adjudication process to CAS ADD, all of our National Federations and their boxers, can be sure that World Boxing is doing everything possible to promote and deliver clean sport and that all activities and decisions in this area are free of interference and subject to independent third-party oversight.”

World Boxing was launched in April 2023 and aims to keep Boxing in the Olympic Games. On 7 May 2024, it held the first formal meeting with the IOC which signaled the start of formal collaboration aimed at establishing a pathway for boxing to remain in the Olympic Games.