World Boxing grows to 68 federations, but some important nations remain absent

World Boxing, the international amateur boxing organization which was founded in response to threats to boxing’s inclusion at the Olympics, has added eight more national federations to its memberships.

The organization’s membership grew to 68 countries with the approvals of France, Croatia, Poland, Iran, Malaysia, Nepal, Turkmenistan and Samoa, which is represented by Independent Boxing Samoa.

“To add eight more National Federations to our ever-increasing membership is another significant step for World Boxing and further evidence of the widespread support, across the sport, for our work to ensure boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic Movement,” said World Boxing President Boris van der Vorst.

“It is clear that the only way that boxing will be on the program for LA2028 is for national federations to support World Boxing and I invite all boxing leaders that care about the future of the sport and their boxers to apply for membership of our organization as we continue to grow and go from strength to strength.”

World Boxing was launched in August of 2023, just two months after the IBA, which had previously been suspended from overseeing Olympic events in 2019 due to improper governance and financial mismanagement, was permanently suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

World Boxing set-up an “Olympic Commission” in September of 2024, chaired by former middleweight champion Gennadiy Golovkin, with the express goal of maintaining boxing’s place in the Olympics.

The sport has been part of each Olympiad since 1916 but has yet to be included in the LA 2028 program. A decision on whether boxing will be at the next Olympics is expected to be made this year by the IOC.

Several countries that produced medals at the 2020 Olympics have not joined World Boxing, including Cuba, Turkey, Ireland, China, Bulgaria, Armenia, among others.