USA Boxing announced as one of first six members of World Boxing

USA Boxing, New Zealand Boxing, Boxing Australia, GB Boxing, England Boxing and the Dutch Boxing Federation have been confirmed as the first six official members of World Boxing, the new international federation, established to keep boxing at the heart of the Olympic Movement and support the growth and development of the sport at local, regional, national and international levels.

All six countries have completed a rigorous application process and been approved as members by the Executive Board of World Boxing.

The application process for National Federations to become members of World Boxing is overseen by the Secretary General, Simon Toulson, and designed to ensure that all applicants are deemed to be in good standing and, through their statutes and operating processes, are able to demonstrate:

• A transparent and open election process for the appointment of office bearing roles

• The existence and operation of WADA-recognsied anti-doping polices and processes

• Evidence of a structured, dispute resolution and appeals process that is either fully independent or subject to external input

• Formal recognition by either their National Olympic Committee (NOC) or Ministry for Sport

As each country’s recognised National Federation for the sport, USA Boxing, New Zealand Boxing, Boxing Australia, England Boxing and the Dutch Boxing Federation have been granted full membership status. GB Boxing has been granted Associate Membership as it is reponsible for managing Great Britain’s elite, World Class Programme (WCP) and taking the team to tournaments, such as the European Games and the Olympic Games, where boxers from England, Scotland and Wales compete as Great Britain.

All six members will attend World Boxing’s inaugural Congress in November 2023 and have the opportunity to nominate candidates for offices within the new international federation including the Presidency and Executive Committee and membership of Committees and Commissions. The five full members will have voting rights at the Congress.

The President of USA Boxing and a member of World Boxing’s Interim Executive Board, Tyson Lee, said: “It is very pleasing to see that the first cohort of World Boxing members includes National Federations from three continents as it is vital that World Boxing is a truly global endeavour with nations from across the world playing a role in contributing to the creation of a better future for the sport and everyone connected to it, based on collaboration, consultation and consensus.

“We look forward to working with World Boxing and all current and future members to create a global sporting structure that puts the interest of boxers first and operates with rigorous governance practices designed to deliver fairness and sporting integrity.”

World Boxing’s Secretary General, Simon Toulson, explained: “Transparecy and rigorous governance is central to the way we operate as an organisation and all of the new members have been through a detailed and meticulous process to secure membership.

“We are currently processing a number of applications, which can be time consuming and take several weeks, so it is important that all National Federations who want to nominate candidates and vote in World Boxing’s inaugural Congress in November 2023 make their membership applications soon or they may miss the deadline for being able to participate in this event.”

World Boxing will be writing to all National Federations this week (w/c 7 August 2023) to invite them to apply and nominate candidates for the office bearing positions of World Boxing by 25 August 2023.

All nominations will be vetted by an independent third-party and the final list of approved candidates will be published in October 2023 - 30 days before the inaugural Congress. To be eligible to stand for election, all candidates must represent a National Federation or organisation that is a member of World Boxing.

World Boxing was launched in April 2023 and aims to ensure that boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic movement. It will seek recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and plans to work constructively and collaboratively to develop a pathway that will preserve boxing’s ongoing place on the Olympic competition programme at Los Angeles 2028 and beyond.

Further information on World Boxing is available at www.worldboxing.org.