Membership

World Boxing has surpassed the landmark of 100 members after its Executive Board approved the applications of 17 National Federations, to take its total to 106 countries.

The latest cohort of countries to join World Boxing features some of the most famous and successful countries in Olympic-style boxing and includes Cuba, which has won 41 gold medals in the ring in 16 Games since it first competed at Rome 1960. Cuba is joined by Ireland, where boxing is by far the country’s most successful Olympic sport and accounts for 19 of the 42 medals it has won since 1924.

It means that (with the exception of Russia and the Soviet Union) World Boxing’s membership now includes the 10 most successful countries of all time in Olympic boxing and 10 of the top 11 medal winning countries from Paris 2024.

The full list of the National Federations that have had their applications approved is is:

1. Afghanistan National Boxing Federation
2. Austrian Boxing Federation
3. The Boxing Federation of Azerbaijan
4. Chilean Boxing Federation
5. Columbia Boxing Federation
6. Cuban Boxing Federation
7. Irish Athletic Boxing Association
8. Hong Kong Boxing Federation
9. Lebanese Boxing Federation
10. Federacion Mexicana De Boxeo
11. Macao Boxing Federation
12. Mauritius Boxing Federation
13. Royal Spanish Boxing Federation
14. Saudi Boxing Federation
15. Uganda Boxing Federation
16. United Arab Emirates Boxing Federation
17. Venezuela Boxing Federation

The 17 National Federations that have had their applications approved are eligible to enter teams into the World Boxing Championships 2025 in Liverpool, 4-14 September 2025.

The President of World Boxing, Boris van der Vorst, said: “To have surpassed the landmark of 100 National Federations in just over two years is a massive achievement and I would like to thank all of my colleagues and every one of our members for their support and their commitment to ensuring that boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic Movement.

“Our membership includes the vast majority of the world’s most successful countries in Olympic boxing.  To be able to announce a name like Cuba, which is synonomous with Olympic boxing, at the same time as a country like Saudi Arabia, that has huge ambitions within the sport, is a resounding endorsement of World Boxing and clear evidence of the confidence that National Federations across the globe have in our ability to develop and grow the sport at all levels.”

The Chief Executive of the Saudi Boxing Federation, Mansour Naif Alsharif, added: “Joining World Boxing marks, a significant step in Saudi Arabia’s journey to elevate boxing nationally and internationally. We are committed to the Olympic movement and believe this partnership will help develop our athletes, align with global standards, and position the Kingdom as a rising force in the sport.”

The Chair of the IABA Board of Directors, Niall O’Carroll, commented: This is a watershed moment for Irish Boxing. Every kid in every boxing club in the Association deserves the Olympic dream – and their clubs have made sure that dream can live on, to LA 2028 and beyond, by voting to join World Boxing. Irish Boxing has always valued our Olympic journey – from our first team of 9 boxers at Paris 1924, to winning 19 medals over the last 100 years and maintaining our standing as Team Ireland’s most successful Olympic sport. We have more Olympic podiums to climb, and more medals to win. Our joining of World Boxing today ensures that.”

All of the new National Federations have completed a rigorous application process to join World Boxing. They are deemed to be in good standing and, through their statutes and operating processes, able to demonstrate a transparent and open election process, the existence and operation of WADA-recognised anti-doping polices and processes, evidence of independent, structured, dispute resolution and appeals processes, formal recognition by either their National Olympic Committee (NOC) or Ministry for Sport and a solid national and international boxing programme.

Under World Boxing’s Statutes, the approval of the Executive Board means the17 new National Federations have been endorsed for membership.  Final approval of membership status can only be conferred by Congress, which is the ultimate authority of World Boxing, and will be voted on at its next Congress which is scheduled to take place in New Delhi in November 2025.

World Boxing was launched in April 2023 with a mission to ensure that boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic movement. It held its first formal meeting with the IOC in May 2024 and on 25 February 2025, it was granted provisional recognition by the IOC as the International Federation (IF) within the Olympic Movement governing the sport of boxing at world level.  On 20 March 2025, the IOC confirmed that boxing has been restored to the sport programme for LA28.

The Executive Board of World Boxing has approved six more applications from boxing National Federations to increase its’ membership to 84 countries.

The six new members are: the Chinese Boxing Federation; the Turkish Boxing Federation; the Sudan Boxing Federation; the Boxing Association of Montenegro; the Slovak Boxing Federation and the Hellenic Boxing Federation (Greece).

The approval of the applications follows the recent announcement by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 25 February 2025 to grant provisional Olympic recognition to World Boxing.

All of the new National Federations have completed a rigorous application process to join World Boxing. They are deemed to be in good standing and, through their statutes and operating processes, able to demonstrate a transparent and open election process, the existence and operation of WADA-recognised anti-doping polices and processes, evidence of independent, structured, dispute resolution and appeals processes, formal recognition by either their National Olympic Committee (NOC) or Ministry for Sport and a solid national and international boxing programme.

The addition of China and Türkiye increases the number of World Boxing members whose men and women won medals at the 2024 Olympics where China finished second in the boxing medal table with three golds and two silver, while Türkiye came joint eighth with three medals.

The President of World Boxing, Boris van der Vorst, said: “It is my pleasure to welcome our latest members which further increases the global reach of World Boxing across all five Continents as we continue to grow and go from strength to strength.

“The addition of six more members to our ever-increasing membership is further evidence of the widespread support that exists across our sport for the work that World Boxing is doing to deliver a better future for boxers and ensure that boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic Movement.”

A full list of the 84 National Federations that are members of World Boxing can be viewed HERE.

World Boxing was launched in April 2023 with a mission to ensure that boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic movement. It held its first formal meeting with the IOC in May 2024 and on 25 February 2025, it was granted provisional recognition by the IOC as the International Federation (IF) within the Olympic Movement governing the sport of boxing at world level.

The Executive Board of World Boxing has approved six more membership applications from the National Federations for boxing in Kosovo, Syria, Hungary, Malawi, Estonia and Switzerland to take its membership to 78 countries.

The confirmation of Hungary as the 75^th country to have its membership application approved by World Boxing’s Executive Board means that the International Federation has achieved one of the widely established criteria for Olympic inclusion, that a sport must be practiced in at least 75 countries on four continents.

All of the new National Federations have completed a rigorous application process to join World Boxing. They are deemed to be in good standing and, through their statutes and operating processes, able to demonstrate a transparent and open election process, the existence and operation of WADA-recognised anti-doping polices and processes, evidence of independent, structured, dispute resolution and appeals processes, formal recognition by either their National Olympic Committee (NOC) or Ministry for Sport and a solid national and international boxing programme.

The President of World Boxing, Boris van der Vorst, said: “This is a very significant milestone for World Boxing and I am delighted to welcome our six newest members and thank each of them for making the decision to join our mission to ensure that boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic Movement.

“It is a particular pleasure to welcome Hungary as our 75^th member as this means that World Boxing has achieved one of the widely established criteria for a sport to be included in the Olympic Games. 

“This is very positive news for everyone involved with boxing, at all levels, throughout the world and I would like to thank all of our member National Federations for their steadfast support and commitment to delivering a better future for boxers and everyone associated with our sport.

“We are continuing to receive applications from National Federations across the world that want to be part of World Boxing, and I urge all boxing leaders that want to ensure their boxers have the opportunity to compete at a future Olympic Games to do the same and apply to join World Boxing.”

A full list of the 78 National Federations that are members of World Boxing can be viewed HERE.

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.

The Executive Board of World Boxing has approved membership applications from the National Federations for boxing in Egypt, Gambia, Kiribati and Grenada, to take its membership to 72 countries.

The addition of Egypt and Gambia grows World Boxing’s footprint in Africa. The approval of Kiribati’s application means it now has seven members in Oceania.

All of the new National Federations have completed a rigorous application process to join World Boxing. They are deemed to be in good standing and, through their statutes and operating processes, able to demonstrate:

• A transparent and open election process for the appointment of office bearing roles
• The existence and operation of WADA-recognised anti-doping polices and processes
• Evidence of a structured, dispute resolution and appeals process that is either fully independent or subject to external input
• Formal recognition by either their National Olympic Committee (NOC) or Ministry for Sport
• A solid national and international boxing sports programme

The President of World Boxing, Boris van der Vorst, said: “The approval of four more applications is a sign of the continued progress of World Boxing and the widespread desire for change that exists across the sport.

“It is clear that the only way that boxing will continue to be part of the Olympic Movement is for National Federations to support World Boxing and it is good to see that boxing leaders from all parts of the world recognise this and are applying to join us.

“We are continuing to process applications from National Federations across the world I urge all boxing leaders that want to ensure their boxers to have the opportunity to compete at a future Olympic Games to seek to be part of World Boxing.”

A full list of the 72 National Federations that are members of World Boxing can be viewed HERE.

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 has approved applications from eight more National Federations to take its membership to 68 countries.

The new applications, which have been approved by the Executive Board of World Boxing, are from the National Federations for boxing in France, Croatia, Poland, Iran, Malaysia, Nepal, Turkmenistan and Samoa, which is represented by Independent Boxing Samoa.

All eight of the new National Federations have completed a rigorous application process to join World Boxing. They are deemed to be in good standing and, through their statutes and operating processes, able to demonstrate:

• A transparent and open election process for the appointment of office bearing roles
• The existence and operation of WADA-recognised anti-doping polices and processes
• Evidence of a structured, dispute resolution and appeals process that is either fully independent or subject to external input
• Formal recognition by either their National Olympic Committee (NOC) or Ministry for Sport
• A solid national and international boxing sports programme

The President of World Boxing, Boris van der Vorst, said: “To add eight more National Federations to our ever-increasing membership is another significant step for World Boxing and further evidence of the widespread support, across the sport, for our work to ensure boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic Movement.

“It is clear that the only way that boxing will be on the programme for LA2028 is for National Federations to support World Boxing and I invite all boxing leaders that care about the future of the sport and their boxers to apply for membership of our oragnisation as we continue to grow and go from strength to strength.”

A full list of the 68 National Federations that are members of World Boxing can be viewed HERE.

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 approves applications from four new members at its second annual Congress in Colorado USA

World Boxing has approved applications from the National Federations (NFs) for boxing in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Guatemala and Laos to take its membership to 55 countries.

The news came at the end of World Boxing’s second annual Congress (3 November 2024) which was held in Pueblo, Colorado, following the conclusion of last week’s successful U19 World Boxing Championships.

The addition of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, which are two of the world’s leading boxing nations, is a major coup for World Boxing and significantly increases the footprint of the new International Federation (IF) in Asia where it now has 15 members. 

Uzbekistan has been one of the leading boxing nations at the last two Olympic Games and topped the medal table in Paris with five golds.  Kazakhstan is widely regarded as a powerhouse in the sport.

The President of World Boxing, Boris van der Vorst, said: “On the date of our second Congress, it is fantastic that World Boxing is able to welcome four new countries whom I am sure will all play an important role in our mission to ensure that boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic Movement.

“Only last week we announced seven new members to take World Boxing past the milestone of 50 countries. To be able to announce four more members – including two major powers in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan – so soon after this, is a sign of the growing momentum shift in international boxing. 

“It is clear that there has been a change in impetus and that more National Federations want to join World Boxing as they recognise it is the only way to keep the Olympic dreams of their boxers alive.”

The announcement of four new members was the main news from World Boxing’s second Congress, which was attended in person or virtually by representatives from 43 member countries.

No elections were scheduled however members held discussions and votes on a series of measures which included:

• The approval of minutes from World Boxing’s Inaugural Congress in 2023
• The approval of 27 new full members since last year’s Congress
• Discussion and approval of amendments to the World Boxing Statutes
• Discussion and approval of updated Competition Rules

The Congress also included a speech by the President, Boris van der Vorst, and reports from the Secretary General, Simon Toulson, and the Chairs of the Committees for Sport and Competition; Medical and Anti-doping; and Finance and Audit.

The agenda and all of the papers from World Boxing’s 2024 Congress are publicly available HERE. 

World Boxing was launched in April 2023.  On 7 May 2024, it held its 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 the President of the National Olympic Committee of Kazakhstan, Gennadiy Golovkin, to support the process of developing a pathway to make sure that boxing is restored to the Olympic programme for Los Angeles 2028.

The U19 World Boxing Championships in Colorado was World Boxing’s first global championships. Its next one will be the 2025 Elite World Boxing Championships for men and women which will be held in Liverpool, England, in September 2025.

World Boxing, the International Federation established to ensure boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic Movement, now has 51 members after it approved seven new applications from the National Federations for boxing in Andorra, Belgium, Iraq, Lithuania, Madagascar, Kyrgyzstan and Thailand. 

All of the applications have been approved by World Boxing’s Executive Board and significantly enhance its global footprint. Madagascar is the third African nation to join after Nigeria and Algeria. Iraq is the second Arabic country to become a member.

The addition of the Thailand Boxing Association, whose President Mr. Pichai Chunhavajira has been the President of the Asian Boxing Confederation since March 2022, boosts World Boxing’s influence in the region, where it now has 11 members including India, Japan, Bhutan, Chinese Taipei, South Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Philippines and Singapore. 

The announcement of the seven new members comes in the same week that World Boxing is staging its first global championships, the U19 World Boxing Championships, at the Pueblo Convention Centre in Colorado USA, 26 October – 2 November 2024. 

The Championships will be followed on Sunday 3 November 2024 by World Boxing’s second annual Congress. 

All seven of the new National Federations have completed a rigorous application process to join World Boxing. They are deemed to be in good standing and, through their statutes and operating processes, able to demonstrate: 

• A transparent and open election process for the appointment of office bearing roles 
• The existence and operation of WADA-recognised anti-doping polices and processes 
• Evidence of a structured, dispute resolution and appeals process that is either fully independent or subject to external input 
• Formal recognition by either their National Olympic Committee (NOC) or Ministry for Sport 
• A solid national and international boxing sports programme 

The President of World Boxing, Boris van der Vorst, said: “To have surpassed the milestone of 50 members is hugely significant for World Boxing and conclusive proof of both the desire for change that exists in international boxing and the widespread acknowledgement by so many National Federations that boxing has to continue to be part of the Olympic Games. 

“I would like to thank all of my colleagues and the other boxing leaders across the world that have worked together with us to reach this significant point in the evolution of World Boxing and I look forward to working with other National Federations as we continue to grow our membership further.

“The momentum is building and I look forward to announcing more members in the near future as we are continuing to process applications from more and more countries who recognise that joining World Boxing and is the only way of ensuring that their boxers will be able to pursue their dreams of competing on the biggest stage in sport at the Olympic Games.” 

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, to support and assist the process of developing a pathway to ensuring that boxing is restored to the Olympic Games.