Usyk calls for change to ‘rotten’ amateur boxing

Oleksandr Usyk, the world’s best heavyweight, says amateur boxing is ‘rotten’ at elite level and has called for change.

The 2012 Olympic Games gold medalist is in Paris to support Ukrainian athletes, including its boxers.

Boxing came close to being pulled from the Paris schedule after a row between amateur boxing’s banished governing body and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOC said in May that boxing could even be dropped for the 2028 Olympic Games if there are no changes in the international governance of amateur boxing.

The IOC stripped the International Boxing Association (IBA) of the right to run Olympic boxing tournaments in Tokyo in 2021 and in Paris, as it has concerns about how the IBA governs the sport and the integrity of how bouts are refereed and scored.

Usyk, who became undisputed world heavyweight champion when he outpointed Tyson Fury in December, told SNTV during a Q&A session at Ukraine House: “For many years, there has been a desire to change the boxing system, which is rotten on an international level. So, we just need to work. No promises need to be made; we need to act. When you do this, people see the work done and come to you, asking to collaborate.”

Usyk is still optimistic about boxing’s future at the next Olympic Games in Los Angeles 2028, despite the IOC insisting there needs to be a body it recognises to organise qualification.

He said: “I think boxing will be in the Olympic Games.”

Ukraine, which is at war with Russia, has its smallest-ever delegation to compete at the summer Games — 140 athletes in 26 sports — with just three boxers in action in Paris.

“We are at war. But our athletes still came,” Usyk said. “They are fighting.”

Usyk watched Olgha Kharlan win bronze in the women’s individual sabre (fencing), Ukraine’s first medal at the Games. “My personal wish was, and I probably knew, that Olga is one of those people who would bring a medal for Ukraine,” Usyk said.