Will The 2020 Olympics Be Without Boxing?

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By Tyler “The Miracle Man” White

Many young athletes and elite level amateur boxers will be a bit worried as the next Olympics – due to take place in Tokyo in 2020 – may not be including boxing within its schedule.

One of the main reasons that boxing may not be included, is that the International Olympic Committee are skeptical of the way that boxing is managed and governed by the AIBA.

The IOC have suspended any financial contribution towards the AIBA whilst they come to a decision on whether or not to allow the sport to be a part of the 2020 games.

It has been said that the members of the IOC are “extremely worried” about the AIBA’s new interim president, Gafur Rakhimov.

After a bit of research on the new interim president, there is plenty there to show that he has multiple links back to businesses in Uzbekistan. However, there is also a lot of reports which indicate that he may be involved in organized crime…

Rakhimov has never been charged but has been blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury Department as an alleged member of the heroin trade.

Alongside the appointment of a new interim president with connections to organized crime, the IOC deems that the sport of amateur boxing and the AIBA association in particular has, in the past, been both unfair and dishonest.

This is in regards to claims of match fixing, particularly in the 2016 Olympic Games where Gary Russell, JR. was robbed of a place in the semi-finals after knocking down his opponent from Uzbekistan and when Michael Conlan was robbed against his Russian opponent, after clearly outboxing him.

(You may remember that famous interview that an understandably emotional Conlan gave to broadcasters RTE, claiming that the AIBA were cheats and were paying everybody!)

The AIBA ended up suspending all of the boxing referees and judges from the Rio Olympic Games but none-the-less, these past results act as a fair reason that the IOC may decide to opt out of including boxing in the 2020 games, in the fear of a repeat.

Only time will tell, but it’s always heartbreaking to see men and women dedicate their lives to a sport and risk their health with every contest, only to be robbed of the rewards on the biggest stage of them all in Amateur Boxing.

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