IOC set to include boxing on 2028 Olympics programme

Boxing is set to be among the sports at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics after a new governing body was selected, IOC chief Thomas Bach said on Monday.

Bach said the IOC’s Executive Board approved including boxing on the 2028 programme after his organisation recognised World Boxing to oversee the sport at the Olympics, ending years of divisions over the way the sport is run.

The decision still needs to be rubber-stamped by a full IOC Session of about 100 members later this week, but that is expected to be a formality.

The IOC stepped in to organise the boxing tournaments at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the Paris Olympics last year after breaking with the Russian-led International Boxing Association over financial, governance and ethical concerns.

Bach had warned that boxing’s national federations needed to find a new and “reliable” international partner if it wanted to be included at the 2028 Games.

Last month, the IOC provisionally recognised World Boxing as the body to oversee the sport at future Games.

“I am very confident that the session will approve it so that all the boxers of the world then have certainty that they can participate in the Olympic Games LA 2028 if their national federation is recognised by World Boxing,” Bach said on Monday.

IOC members will elect Bach’s successor on Thursday.

The front-runners in the field of seven candidates are IOC veteran Juan Antonio Samaranch Junior, World Athletics president Sebastian Coe and former Olympic swimmer Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe.