World Boxing Aims for Olympic Comeback

World Boxing organization is strategizing to expand its membership and replace the Russian-dominated International Boxing Association (IBA) as the sport’s governing body in the Olympic movement. President Boris Van Der Vorst remains optimistic amid challenges and aims to keep boxing in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

The nascent governing body fighting to keep boxing in the Olympics is about to get a major membership boost.

World Boxing expects to expand its membership base to 50 national federations or more in the weeks after the conclusion of the tumultuous Paris Olympics, President Boris Van Der Vorst told The Associated Press. The organization already has 37 members, including most of the top Western national federations.

Van Der Vorst said he is leaving Paris even more confident his sport can pull off “the greatest comeback story ever in the Olympic movement.'' Van Der Vorst has spent the Games speaking to boxing leaders and federation officials as World Boxing attempts to unify the sport under the only practical alternative to the Russian-dominated International Boxing Association, which has been banished from the Olympic movement.