Six athletes have been selected to serve on World Boxing’s Athletes Committee following elections at the inaugural World Boxing Championships in Liverpool.
The new Athletes Committee is made up of Buse Naz Çakıroğlu (Turkey), Caitlin Parker (Australia), Daniel Pitt (Wales), Richard Torrez Jr. (USA), Yojerlin Cesar (France) and Zareen Nikhat (India).
Parker and Torrez Jr. have previously served on the committee and were re-elected following the electoral process in Liverpool, which allowed every athlete attending the World Boxing Championships to vote. Çakıroğlu, Cesar and Nikhat have all competed at the World Boxing Championships this week.
Speaking on his re-election, Torrez Jr. said: “I’m incredibly happy to be back on the Athletes Commission, it is an honour, I’m just trying to give the voice for the athletes. I think it’s a crucial part of World Boxing because, at the end of the day, everything is about the athlete.
“I’m thankful for these elections because now we’re able to have a committee with different voices from different areas of the world. That’s incredibly important because what is my problem might not necessarily be the problem of someone in another continent.
“The first few years were about creating rules and regulations for World Boxing, and how we could get boxing back to the Olympics. I think these next couple of years are where the voice really is going to matter and how we can make boxing great.”
The Committee, which provides advice, guidance and opinions to World Boxing, is designed to ensure that boxers have a voice in the development of the organisation.
In addition to its role as a forum for discussing the needs of athletes, the group of six will nominate two of its members to serve as Athlete Representatives, who will be invited to attend and contribute directly to World Boxing Executive Board meetings and sessions of Congress.