It was suggested this week that some of the world’s leading professional boxers – Floyd Junior, Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan among them – could return to the Olympics under new moves by the world amateur governing body for boxing to allow professionals to compete at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. But unfortunately it is flawed. Some may return, but not boxing’s big earners.
The radical new plans were proposed this week by International Boxing Association (AIBA) President C K Wu, a powerful and at times controversial figure. Tennis and golf, along with rugby union, all have professional exponents competing in the Olympics.
Yet amateur boxing and professional boxing are two distinct sports. Headguards, differing in rounds, a completely diverse set of criteria.
The new programme, entitled AIBA Professional Boxing (APB), to be launched in 2013, will allow competitors to retain their Olympic eligibility despite boxing professionally. However, the truth of the concept lies in the small print.
A spokesperson for the Amateur Boxing Association of England said: “The announcement by AIBA represents another step in attempting to provide a duty of care and support to boxers throughout the whole of their careers. The welfare of boxers is our number one priority and we would expect everyone connected with the sport to support this principle.
“Like all major changes it creates a number of significant challenges for us as an organisation and I am forming a Commission to examine the proposals in more detail in our role as the governing body for amateur boxing in England. We will provide a further update after the Commission has arrived at its initial conclusions.
A feature of the competition is that current professional boxers can have their Olympic eligibility restored if they compete in the first season of the APB and the AIBA President, who is also and International Olympic Committee (IOC) member, is confident some of the sport’s biggest stars will be tempted to compete in the event because of the lure of Olympic glory. However, boxing’s biggest earners are unlikely to take the bait.
Tony Jeffries, the GB Beijing Games bronze medallist, told The Telegraph that he believes some boxers will take the move. Jeffries, who has been a professional for three years, has moved to California in a bid to enhance his career. “But I would love the opportunity to compete again in the Olympics. I think quite a few guys will consider it.” Jeffries told The Telegraph.
Audley Harrison, who won gold in Sydney in 2000, ruled it out. “I’d go to Rio,” Harrison told The Telegraph this week. “But probably only as an official within the British Olympic Association.”
President Wu has said: “I hope we can attract the very best professionals out there. I don’t know definitely if they will compete in AIBA Professional Boxing but I am hopeful they will because the Olympics is something very special and there is no greater prize in sport than the Olympic gold medal. The door is open to them.”
The likelihood is that few of the biggest names in boxing will walk through that door.
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