It looks like Olympic boxing will be part of the 2028 Los Angeles Games after all.
After not including boxing in the program for the next Quadrennial Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) appears to have had a changed of heart after it put the sport back into the program on Monday.
IOC president Thomas Bach announced the welcome development, saying that the committee’s executive board approved the inclusion of boxing in the 2028 program. It is still needs to be signed off by the IOC, usually after a full session, but reports indicate that it is but a mere formality. Meaning, boxing is assured of being in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“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 L.A. 2028 if their national federation is recognized by World Boxing,” Bach said of the decision to reinclude boxing.
IOC-IBA Split Put Olympic Boxing in Danger of Missing Los Angeles 2028
The IOC has organized the boxing tournaments in the past two Olympics—in Tokyo in 2021 and in Paris last year—after relations with the International Boxing Association (IBA) soured. The two inevitable split as the IBA was beset by allegations of corruption, fiscal mismanagement, and governance problems. Other issues that contributed to the breakup included judging scandals, suspicions of match fixing, and rumors of Russian influence.
This split between the IOC and IBA fanned speculation that Olympic boxing will soon of the Quadrennial Games, as a global governing body is a requirement to be an Olympic sport. With the IBA no longer recognized by the IOC, it left a huge void that needed to be filled.
But, just last month, the IOC recognized World Boxing as the sport’s new governing body. World Boxing was established in 2023 with the primary aim of replacing the IBA and saving Olympic boxing in the process.
The IOC had initially suspended the IBA in 2019 following the aforementioned issues. It then banished boxing entirely from the Olympic movement in 2023 just weeks after the World Boxing breakaway.
Since their initial split, the IOC and IBA have been feuding, with the IBA recently threatening to file criminal complaints against the Olympic committee in the US, France, and Switzerland.
But, until then, it appears Olympic boxing is safe—for now.
