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Nick Parkinson
The world's best heavyweight boxer, Oleksandr Usyk, says amateur boxing is “corrupt” at elite level and is calling for change.
The 2012 Olympic gold medalist is in Paris to support Ukrainian athletes, including boxers.
Boxing was on the brink of being dropped from the Paris Games schedule after a dispute between the ousted amateur boxing governing body and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which said in May that boxing could be dropped from the 2028 Olympics if there were no changes to amateur boxing's international governing structure.
The IOC has stripped the International Boxing Association (IBA) of the right to manage boxing events at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo and Paris, citing concerns about the way the IBA regulates boxing events and the fairness of the refereeing and scoring methods of bouts.
Usyk, who became the undisputed world heavyweight champion after beating Tyson Fury on points in December, told SNTV during a question-and-answer session at Ukraine House: “For many years, there has been a desire to change the system in boxing, which is corrupt at the international level. So, we just need to make an effort. We don't need to promise, we need to take action, and then people will see the effort and ask for our cooperation.”
Usyk remains optimistic about boxing's future at the next Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, despite the IOC insisting that an IOC-recognized body is needed to run the qualifying events.
“I think boxing will become an Olympic sport,” he said.
Ukraine, at war with Russia, will send its smallest ever team to the Summer Olympics, sending 140 athletes across 26 sports, with just three boxers in Paris.
“We are at war, but our fighters still came,” Usyk said. “They are fighting.”
Usyk watched Olga Harlan win the bronze medal in the women's individual sabre (fencing), Ukraine's first Olympic medal. “My personal wish was for Olga to be one of the athletes who brought a medal to Ukraine, and I think she probably did,” Usyk said.
