World Boxing had promised a new era of transparency, integrity, and excellence after years of controversy under the IBA. Its first World Championships, held in Liverpool, were meant to embody these principles. The results are inevitably mixed, given the turbulence caused by the international federation's genetic testing process.
“A big step”
By setting up shop in a real boxing country, World Boxing was guaranteed to attract a crowd from the outset. This was evident in the stands of the M&S Bank Arena, which previously hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023 and concerts by international stars such as Beyoncé and Justin Bieber. We couldn't have wished for a better place to host our first World Championships. " said President Boris van der Vorst, thanking the local organising committee, the British Boxing Federation, Liverpool City Council and all partners for their contribution to " a fantastic event ».
While Kazakhstan (10 medals, including 7 gold) and Uzbekistan (11 medals, including 6 gold) dominated the competition, 30 countries reached the podium, an important sign of vitality. The two refugee boxers, Aryan Saed Panah and Omid Ahmadisafa, also shone by going through the rounds. Proof that World Boxing offers opportunities to all athletes. There were 540 of them, from 68 different national federations, who entered the ring. All the feedback I've heard from boxers, coaches and officials has been very positive., assures van der Vorst. Everyone was pleased with the organization of the event. This sets the bar very high for all future World Boxing events and championships. »
The World Boxing President was pleased to meet all the delegations and " to receive words of gratitude for preserving boxing's place in the Olympic program ", his main victory this year. " Three years ago, I invited boxing leaders to come to the Netherlands to create a new international federation. Three years later, we are here, for the first World Championships, in Liverpool. I am truly proud. It is essential to show the IOC and the whole world—the boxers, the fans, the coaches—that we can organize excellent competitions. This is a big step for World Boxing. » The panorama was nevertheless obscured by some clouds.
World Boxing's professionalism called into question
The IF required genetic testing for all female boxers to be eligible to compete. Olympic champion in the under-66 kilo category, Imane Khelif, challenged this process with the Court of Arbitration for Sport and was not present. Another Paris Olympic champion, Lin Yu-ting, underwent this test but received no response from World Boxing. As a result, faced with this uncertainty, the Taiwanese federation did not send her to Liverpool. Sports Minister Lee Yang reacted to this affair and promised that he would: everything possible " to protect the interests of the boxer.
World Boxing also drew the ire of Nigeria, whose three boxers were left out, and of France, which was unable to enter any athletes due to procedural delays, despite verbal guarantees from World Boxing. The president of the French Boxing Federation, who had decided to leave the IBA to join WB last November, at a time when the fledgling IF had not yet received the IOC's blessing, felt betrayed. It is a lack of professionalism from World Boxing, which is a young federation and does not yet have everyone in the right place., Dominique Nato fumed at the announcement of this blow to his boxersThere was no need to rush into these tests without measuring their scope. »
To a lesser extent, difficulties accessing Eurovision Sport streaming have been noted in several countries, as reported by the blog Taylor On Boxing, also citing very disappointing image quality. The quality of the refereeing also raised some questions. Boris van der Vorst's comments focused on the positives, but the IF will have to quickly learn from its mistakes if boxing is to finally move forward, free of controversy. And this will be without its current president, who will not be seeking a second term and will therefore hand over the reins to someone else this fall.
