US boxers will not be seen at this year’s World Championships.
United States Boxing Association announced on Wednesday boycotting the sport’s World Championships in 2023. The decision is significant. The Women’s World Cup will be held in India already in March.
The men’s WC tournament is coming up in May.
The boss of US Olympic style boxing Mike McAtee has been opposing the activities of the International Boxing Association IBA. works as the chairman of IBA Vladimir Putin identified as a close friend Umar Kremlinov. The IBA is described as an undemocratic organization.
In addition, IBA is financially dependent on its main sponsor, the Russian oil and gas giant Gazprom.
In its press release, the US Boxing Association justifies the decision with the IBA’s ties to Russia. The IBA allows Russians and Belarusians to participate in value competitions, which again goes against the line of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Boxing’s place as an Olympic sport is at stake. Earlier, the IOC said that the sport could lose its place at the Paris Summer Games if the IBA’s operations do not become more transparent.
According to McAte, the IBA has failed to clean up its reputation. Among other things, IBA has publicly promised the gold medalists of the World Championships huge cash prizes. Women’s gold medalists receive $100,000, men’s world champions $200,000. However, according to the US federation, the sums have not been accommodated in the IBA’s budget.
The national federation is trying to organize replacement tournaments for US boxers before the Olympic qualifiers.
Finland’s position changed
Keyshawn Davis boxed for Olympic silver in Tokyo 2021. After that, he switched to professional rings. PDO
The Finnish Boxing Federation found itself in the middle of criticism when it broke its line in January.
First, the Boxing Federation announced that it would allow Finnish fighters to compete in the World Championships, also against Russians and Belarusians.
Then the stock was re-evaluated. The final decision was that Finnish boxers can participate in international competitions, but not fight against boxers from Russia and Belarus.
Finland will not send a team to the Women’s World Cup.