Press Release

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.

Tickets for the World Boxing Cup Finals at the English Institute of Sport Sheffield, England (27-30 November 2024) are on sale now at www.seetickets.com.

Prices start at £12 per session for the first three days of action when there will be one ring and two sessions of boxing starting at 12:00 and 17:00. Tickets for Saturday’s finals session are £15.  All tickets will be subject to a booking fee and discounts are available for groups of ten.

The specific link to purchase tickets is https://www.seetickets.com/tour/world-boxing-cup-final-sheffield-2024.

Some tickets will be available for sale on the door, priced £15 per session for the first three days and £20 on finals  day.

More than 110 boxers from over 20 countries are expected to take part in the four-day tournament which is the culmination of the World Boxing Cup series for 2024 and follows events earlier this year in Sheffield (January), Colorado (April) and Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia (September).

The action, which will take place across seven men’s weight categories and six for women, will feature strong home nation interest as up to 20 boxers from Great Britain’s Olympic programme are expected to compete as they begin the journey towards the next Games in Los Angeles 2028.

Two members of the GB Boxing squad that will be looking to be crowned World Boxing Cup Champion for 2024 are lightweight (60kg), Elise Glynn from Birmingham, and flyweight (50kg) Savannah Stubley, from Blythe in the north east.

Elise Glynn said: “I am really looking forward to competing again at home as it is not something we get to do that often as part of the GB Boxing squad. We had the tournament in Sheffield back in January when I got silver, so now I need to change the colour and get that gold.”  

Savannah Stubley added: “I am excited to compete at the World Boxing Cup because I will have a lot of support behind me when I am boxing. I went to the last one and won gold so hopefully, fingers crossed, I can do the same this time.”

They will be joined by squad-mate Cameron McKay from London, who will be competing at light-welterweight (63.5kg) in his first World Boxing Cup event of the year after recovering from a hand injury.

McKay said: “My preparation has been good.  I did have to take some time off with injury after winning my last tournament in April but the build up to this has given me the chance to work on some different skills and get back fit, so I am looking forward to showcasing it.

“I think the UK has the best crowds in any sport, so I am expecting the crowd to be very loud and very supportive.”

The World Boxing Cup is a new international boxing format developed by World Boxing, the international federation which has been established to ensure boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic Movement.

The World Boxing Cup Finals 2024 will be delivered by England Boxing in association with World Boxing and GB Boxing and is supported by the National Lottery and Sheffield City Council.

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. 

More than 180 boxers from 30 National Federations will compete in the 2024 U19 World Boxing Championships which get underway this week at the Pueblo Convention Center, Colorado, USA (26 October – 2 November 2024).

The competition, for male and female boxers aged 17 and 18, is World Boxing’s first-ever global championships. It will feature athletes from all five Continents that compete in boxing and will be held across 10 weight categories for both men and women.

The action will run across one session per day, beginning at 15:00 MT for the first five days when there will be two rings in place. The penultimate day, Friday, 1 November, will have one session in one ring, beginning at 13:00 MT. The final day, when the medals will be handed out, will also feature action in a single ring across one session of boxing, beginning at 13:00 MT.

The largest contingent of boxers taking part in this historic event are from the host nation, USA, along with India and Italy, who have all entered teams of 15 men and women.

Other National Federations that will be taking part in the U19 Championships are Algeria, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Ecuador, England, Finland, Germany, India, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Tahiti, Thailand, Ukraine, United States and Wales.

Details of the draw, schedule, and all event documents can be viewed at https://www.usaboxing.org/2024-u19-world-boxing-championships.

The President of World Boxing, Boris van der Vorst, said: “This competition is a significant milestone in the development of World Boxing, and I would like to thank USA Boxing for hosting our first global championships.

“World Boxing is committed to putting athletes first and delivering high quality competition opportunities for boxers at all levels is a significant part of this. I have no doubt that our colleagues at USA Boxing will deliver a top-class event which will provide a fantastic platform for U19 men and women from our member National Federations to showcase their skills and further their development as elite boxers.”

USA Boxing CEO and Executive Director, Mike McAtee, commented: “As we prepare to host the 2024 World Boxing U19 Championships, I could not be more excited for the opportunity to showcase the incredible talent of our youth boxers on an international stage.

“This event marks a historic moment for World Boxing and our sport. The World Boxing U19 Championships will serve as a monumental opportunity to keep Olympic-style boxing at the heart of the Olympic movement, and we are thrilled to play a pivotal role in fostering the next generation of champions from around the world. Together, we will celebrate the spirit of competition and the dedication that defines our sport.

The Chair of the Board of USA Boxing, Tyson Lee, added: “As Chair of the Board of USA Boxing, I am honoured to welcome everyone to the 2024 World Boxing U19 Championships here in Colorado.

“In a short time, World Boxing has made remarkable progress in fostering competitive international tournaments by collaborating with National Federations around the globe. We at USA Boxing are proud to contribute to this effort, and we are eager to witness the spirited competition that this event will bring.

“On behalf of the Board of Directors, our dedicated staff, and the entire USA Boxing community, thank you for your participation and best of luck to all the athletes!”

The 2024 U19 World Boxing Championships will be streamed live on World Boxing’s YouTube page and World Boxing will be posting updates throughout the competition on its social media channels:

• Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/officialworldboxing/
• X / Twitter – https://twitter.com/RealWorldBoxing
• Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/OfficialWorldBoxing

World Boxing was launched in April 2023 and aims to ensure that boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic movement and currently has 44 member National Federations covering all five Continents that compete in international boxing. 

On 7 May 2024 World Boxing held its first meeting with the IOC which signalled the start of formal collaboration between the two organisations aimed at establishing a pathway for boxing to remain in 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.