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.