The geo-political conflict between US and Russia is casting shadows on boxing's uncertain future

Boxing's future in the Olympics is uncertain after getting embroiled in a geo-political conflict between the US and Russia as the IBA and IOC continue to be at odds with each other.

As 2023 rolls in, there is considerably uncertainty looming large on the future of boxing which has been caught up in a geo-political and ideological conflict between the United States of America and Russia.

Boxing is the last remaining Olympic sport that is headed by representatives from Russia much to the chagrin of the United States. The lone sponsor of the sport is a Russian energy conglomerate and most of its operations have also been shifted from Switzerland to Russia. Even in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian boxers were allowed to participate under their national flags.

This has drawn considerable ire from the United States of America as well as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with the former wanting to consolidate a breakaway federation to secure the future of boxing and the latter recognising the growing Russian influence and demanding immediate reforms.

What began as a fight against match fixing, doping scandals and rampant corruption has quickly snowballed into a proxy geopolitical battle that is threatening the future of a historic, popular and diverse Olympic sport.

The war between IBA and IOC

While boxing continues to be a part of the Olympics for the time being, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) wants to run the sport, just as it does with the Olympics. However, the International Boxing Association (IBA) has made it clear that no boxer will be able to participate at the Olympics without its approval. This has resulted in IOC considering dropping boxing from the Paris 2024 Olympics and it also doesn’t feature on the sports roster for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

How did the controversy begin and how has it arrived to this stage?

An independent investigation by the IBA determined that the medal bouts at the Rio Olympics in 2016 were match fixed by ‘complicit and compliant’ judges which plunged the sport into immediate crisis. This resulted in then president Ching-Kuo Wu stepping down from his position in 2018 after being in charge for 11 years. Uzbekistan’s Gafur Rakhimov was appointed as the new president but it was soon discovered that he allegedly had links to an international heroin trade. Despite denying the allegations, he also resigned and the IOC stepped in and set up a task force to make sure boxing would be conducted smoothly at the Tokyo Olympics.

Russian Umar Kremlev came in as the president in 2020 and the AIBA was rebranded to IBA. While he assured that he would be bringing in much-needed reforms to the organisation, his leadership quickly became a matter of grave concern for the IOC.

The IBA’s governance, its financial undertakings and stability as well as the ethical credibility and the integrity of the judges have all been under the scanner and Kremlev also resisted calls for an independent organisation to handle the assignment of referees and judges at events.

Eyebrows were also raised when the operations of the IBA were shifted from Lausanne in Switzerland to Russia and not to mention that Russian giant Gazprom is the lone major sponsor of the sport.

The IBA is also the only body that has gone against the IOC’s recommendation and allowed Russian boxers to fight under their flag following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

What happens next and will boxing be dropped from the Olympics?

Given the tussle that the IBA and IOC have been involved in recently, the former has claimed that it will reach out to senior leadership at the IOC in order to de-escalate and with the view of ensuring that boxing remains on the roster for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. The IOC, on its part, has demanded immediate and urgent reforms to the organisation while several countries have been working on a breakaway federation behind the scenes.

It also seems like a distinct possibility that boxing, which has featured in every Olympics since 1904 except one (the Sweden 1912 Games because Sweden’s laws banned the sport at that time) will be dropped from the roster. The sport’s popularity in the US, which has produced legends like Muhammad Ali, George Forman, Joe Frazier, and Mike Tyson, may however, become a decisive factor for the IOC regarding the 2028 Games.