Here’s a question you may have thought would never need to be asked: is boxing still a major sport?
Sure the very biggest fights still generate massive amounts of money through pay-per-view, and the best boxers are major stars and recognisable on the street. But on a day-to-day basis, it would be difficult to argue that boxing is as widely loved as it was 20 or so years ago. Somewhere along the line the sport has become fractured and fractious and even the biggest names in the game today seem to lack the stardust which sprinkled liberally upon some of their predecessors.
Now the International Boxing Federation (AIBA), the governing body of amateur boxing, has come steaming out of its corner with a fresh determination to rebuild the sport from the roots up.
Its plan is to integrate amateur and professional boxing in time for the 2016 Olympics. The programme is called ‘Boxing 16’, and, according to AIBA president Dr. Ching-Kuo Wu, involves “various revolutionary strategies in order to truly govern boxing at all levels, develop a massive grassroots foundation to sustain a continuous high-level of production of boxers and upgrade the global image and reputation of boxing and AIBA to take the sport back to its ‘Golden Age’.”
Under Boxing 16, AIBA will create three major properties under its umbrella as core development and commercial assets, FIFA or international football federation style – the Amateur Olympic Boxing (AOB), World Series Boxing (WSB) and AIBA Professional Boxing (APB).
So where does this initiative leave boxing going forward? Can the governing body genuinely establish control over all the elements of a sport and create a path along which fighters can graduate seamlessly into the professional ranks having made their names at the Olympics? And how will such a move play-out with the promoters whose interests are not necessarilly aligned to those of the association?
We asked experts from boxing and the wider world of sport for their reaction to the news.
Richard Schaefer, CEO, Golden Boy Promotions: “The Olympics have always been a powerful stage to showcase the future stars of boxing...whatever the outcome of this, it’s crucial we maintain the integrity of this institution at all costs.”
John Taylor, Chairman, Sports Impact: “Without the Olympic Games, there is a real danger that boxing beyond the big money super-fights could disappear off the radar.”
Frank Warren, Chief Executive, Frank Warren Promotions: “I’m all for trying to improve a product and floating new ideas. But as far as amateur boxing goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Steve Martin, CEO, M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment: “Boxing is so inextricably linked to money that you wonder whether professional boxers would want anything to do with the Olympic Games.”
For the full debate see the latest edition of SportBusiness International published September 1.
