By: Sean Crose
This could be the end of Olympic Boxing. Although the sport has been a part of the modern Olympic games since 1904, boxing’s history of corruption may have finally caught on to it. On Monday, Thomas Back, head of the International Olympic Committee, announced that boxing, modern pentathlons and weightlifting were on track to no longer be an Olympic sport. According to Back, the International Boxing Federation “must demonstrate that it has successfully addressed the ongoing concerns around governance, financial transparency, and the sustainability and integrity of its processes.” arbitration and evaluation.”
With sports like surfing and skateboarding becoming increasingly popular – or at least approved by the International Olympic Committee – boxing, which has long helped poor athletes climb mountains, economics – find yourself in a precarious position as an Olympic sport. An investigation into the 2016 Summer Olympics found that matches were set by referees and referees – something that should come as no surprise to fans of professional fighting and/ or amateurs, as boxing has a long-standing reputation and is noted as one of the most corrupt sports. on the earth.
With that in mind, there’s no guarantee boxing will be excluded from the Olympics. If the International Boxing Federation proves to the International Olympic Committee that it has cleaned up its conduct, the boxers will be allowed to participate in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics (the 2024 Olympics will still be covered). including boxing). However, the popularity of “youth-oriented” sports has clearly caught the attention of the International Olympic Committee. Furthermore, boxing, once the top sport of the Olympics (think of Ray Leonard in the ’70s), is rarely a prominent television attraction in contemporary Olympics. So the struggle to keep boxing in the Olympics is twofold: the major powers must fight corruption as well as the growing popularity of other sports.
While boxing is no longer the Olympic draw it used to be – even many professional boxing fans today don’t seem particularly interested in Olympic boxing – the Olympics have been known to be the springboard for those bigger thing. Names like Leonard, Holyfield, Foreman and countless others have steered Olympic glory to professional glory. With newcomers like the Paul brothers now occupying much of boxing’s airspace, serious young talent is in need of a bigger launch pad than ever before.
“We need to address this and put in place an action plan that will help us recover at the IOC session in 2023,” said Umar Kremlev, head of the International Boxing Federation. NBC 5 Chicago). “We need to continue to improve our governance.”
