World Boxing Council alarmed at plans for pro boxing in Olympics
CK WU, President of the International Boxing Association (AIBA), the governing body for amateur boxing, which is now officially called AOB Open Boxing (AOB), said he wants pros to box at the Olympics.
Wu, speaking at an AIBA Commission meeting at Old Trafford, Manchester, indicated some pros could fight at the Rio 2016 Olympics, but Tokyo 2020 appears to be the ultimate target.
Pro boxing has been banned from the Olympics since the sport made its Olympic debut in St Louis in 1904.
It’s expected AIBA will pave the way for pros to compete in the final Olympic qualifier in Azerbaijan in June at their extraordinary meeting in May.
But WBC President, Mauricio Sulaiman Saldivar, said they are deeply concerned about the “shameful stage” AIBA has reached in the entire history of Olympic boxing.
The WBC chief has previously criticised AIBA’s move into pro boxing through the World Series of Boxing and AIBA Pro Boxing and escalated the turf war yesterday with a hard-hitting statement.
Saldivar said there was a lot of ignorance and lack on information of what is happening in amateur boxing and accused AIBA of ruling by authoritarian imposition and abusing its powers.
Moreover, he claimed AIBA does not seem to care about the physical well being of fighters (male Elites) by forcing them to fight in multi-day boxing events without headguards.
The WBC President ended his statement with the announcement they are launching the second stage of their WBC Amateur programme.
Meanwhile Wayne Kelly lost out in his quest for at least silver at the 40-nation Strandja multi-nations in Sofia, Bulgaria yesterday.
The Westmeath BC light-welter was beaten on an unanimous decision by Rio 2016 Olympian Vitaly Dunaytsev.
The Russian, who won gold at the 2015 World Elite Championships, earned a 30-27 decision across the board. Kelly will be bringing home bronze from the 67th edition of the tournament.
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