And that’s three. After the USA and Switzerland, a third country is leaving the International Boxing Federation (IBA) to join its competitor, World Boxing. Unsurprisingly, it’s Great Britain, one of the nations behind the creation of the new Olympic boxing body last month. Its federation, GB Boxing, has announced on its website that it has officially applied to become an associate member of World Boxing. The decision was taken on Tuesday June 6 by GB Boxing’s Board of Directors. The British body explains: “It reflects its determination to support World Boxing’s commitment to sporting integrity and good governance, as well as its efforts to ensure that boxing remains on the Olympic program for Los Angeles 2028 and beyond.” GB Boxing was established in 2008, following the Beijing Olympics. Since then, Great Britain has won 14 medals at the Summer Games in London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. The British were among the driving forces behind the creation of World Boxing, whose interim executive board includes GB Boxing CEO Matt Holt and 2020 Olympic gold medallist Lauren Price. GB Boxing’s departure from the IBA is unlikely to be the last. At least two countries have recently expressed their intention to follow suit: the Netherlands and New Zealand.
