Pro boxers in the Olympics? Not so fast, say pro boxing groups

The gloves are effectively off as the various professional world boxing organizations anchored by the leading bodies such as the World Boxing Council and the World Boxing Association have blasted the plan by AIBA president Dr. Wu Kuo-Ching of Taiwan and executive director Ho Kim to allow pro boxers to compete in the Olympic Games beginning in Brazil in 2016 under specific conditions that would effectively undermine the various pro boxing organizations.

The first punch was thrown by WBC president Don Jose Sulaiman who not only bitterly assailed the plan but also took outgoing International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge to task, for his refusal to act on the WBC complaint and hiding under the claim that AIBA is an autonomous federation and the only boxing organization that the IOC recognizes.

Rogge claimed he had answered Sulaiman’s letter but an angry WBC president flatly denied the claim in a statement received by Yahoo! Philippines in which he also blasted the AIBA plan.

Sulaiman said, “The IOC president, Mr. Jacques Rogge, has not answered my very respectful request to know if the IOC supports AIBA’s attempts to impose monopoly, restraint of trade, and violation of the sovereignty of the nations by the exclusive rules being imposed on the sport of boxing by AIBA. The response allegedly sent by the IOC on the 12th of April is false, and no letter of response has actually been received by the WBC.”

Sulaiman referred to a letter sent by AIBA president to all its affiliated national federations in which he claims that IOC president Mr. Rogge recognizes only AIBA and its absolute control over Olympic boxing, which would be a monopoly by having only professional boxers under contract with AIBA compete at the Olympic Games.

The IOC Media Relations Team sent us a similar email in response to our queries in which it stated that, “As far as the IOC is concerned, AIBA is fully independent as outlined in the Olympic Charter. But they will have to present their new eligibility conditions prior to Rio 2016, just as they did prior to London 2012 with regard to the participation of WSB boxers.”

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Despite Sulaiman’s insistence that the IOC did not respond to his letter to president Rogge, the IOC claimed they “responded to the WBC on 12 April and we have no further comment on the matter.”

In assailing the AIBA plan, Sulaiman pointed out: “Monopoly is a violation of the antitrust laws in most countries of the world. This restraint of trade would take away the same right and opportunities from boxers with the same qualifications as AIBA’s boxers.

“The dictatorial imposition of AIBA’s rules to be implemented to regulate the sport at the national federations is a violation of the sovereignty of each country, and a lack of respect to all nations of the world and their sports ministers as well as to all boxing commissions.”

Sulaiman then unloaded a bombshell when he alleged that “In addition to all of the above, documents are in the hands of the WBC that show that AIBA is seeking 165 million Swiss francs in an offer to about 12 franchises to finance AIBA to promote professional boxing in no more than 8 specific countries. The proposal openly states its monopolistic intent to leverage political power of AIBA as the governing body and sole access to the Olympic Games.”

He claimed the proposal “allegedly presents Golden Boy Promotions as a joint venture and further a vendor of its ownership and endorsement of all its WBC and other world champions to AIBA, after which all WBC champions would have to step down from the WBC and join AIBA, getting away from the present professional boxing system. I met personally with the CEO of Golden Boy, Mr. Richard Schaefer, who absolutely rejected any claim to having agreed to any deal with AIBA.”

Sulaiman said the WBC would ask Mr. Rogge “to observe the for-profit AIBA that would be based on wealthy investors, promoting in wealthy countries, while discriminating and seriously damaging the basis and foundations of world sports in third world and developing countries, where there is no or little professional boxing, which are most of the countries in the world.”

In conclusion Sulaiman told Rogge that the WBC “is respectfully, once again, asking the president of the IOC to respond if it is behind AIBA in all those actions. It is the IOC and not AIBA which will accept or reject athletes participating at the Olympic Games. The WBC expects only amateurs to participate in them. If professionals will be accepted, we request the absolute respect to opportunities to all, regardless of institutions, race, religion or nationality. The WBC wants nothing else.”

The WBC president warned that if there is no answer "the IOC, and AIBA may together force legal proceedings not only from the WBC, but from those who feel damaged and all those who oppose monopoly in the world."

World Boxing Organization executive director Gilberto Mendoza Jr. announced his full support for the position of the WBC and president Sulaiman while the influential North American Boxing Federation president Joseph Dwyer also came out strongly against the AIBA plan.

The NABF said it is "expressing its full support of the protests against AIBA and the IOC, as put forward by the WBC and other boxing organizations."

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A statement by the NABF which has an infrastructure of professional boxing national commissions in the United States, Mexico and Canada said it “believes that amateur boxing needs support from all the countries of the world and should not be put aside, like AIBA is allegedly doing at the Olympic Games. Boxing in general would not exist without amateur boxing.”

The NABF went on to state that it “strongly objects to having professional boxing at the Olympic Games, because all the under-developed countries would be at a distinct disadvantage, as well as being exposed to safety issues inherent in the sport of boxing. In boxing, athletes punch each other and might get hurt if a non-experienced boxer is fighting against a professional.”

The NABF said it “will stand by the WBC and all other institutions and people who object to AIBA using the Olympic Games for professional boxers.

In conclusion NABF president Joseph Dwyer said “We respectfully but strongly request AIBA not to proceed to his ruling, and the IOC not to accept it for the fatalities that might occur.”

The powerful European Boxing Union in its last convention attended by more than 30 affiliated countries engaged in a thorough discussion on the issue of pro boxers seeing action in the Olympics and later issued a statement which said “there was a unanimous vote to support the stand of the World Boxing Council and to send a protest to AIBA and the International Olympic Committee against such a move.”

The EBU said that “boxing is a violent sports where pro boxers could hurt the many amateurs from so many under-developed countries.”

The EBU also protested what it referred to as the “monopoly actions implemented by AIBA to force professionalism into the Olympic Games.”

The strongest attack against Dr. Wu and Ho Kim as well as Rogge came from the president of Euro Box Promotion, Rudel Obreja who, in a scathing attack alleged that Dr. Wu and Ho Kim “have nothing to do with boxing. The only thing they are looking for is money (Ho Kim) and image (Dr.Wu).”

Obreja claimed, “I knew them very well and I know what I am saying.”

The Euro Box Promotions president also dragged the IOC president into the fray stating that together with Mr. Rogge whom he accused of protecting what he called “AIBA’s Mafia” even as he insisted that Rogge knows what is happening.

Obreja added that the IOC president was doing this “because of a boxing monopoly that they are looking for under AIBA’S umbrella (actually under their control).”

Obreja accused Rogge of “doing nothing against AIBA and more than that protects them” after he gave the IOC president “important documents regarding AIBA’S corruption” after the Beijing Olympics of 2008” even as he accused the top officials of AIBA “of looking only for Money, professional boxing’s Money.”

Accusations of corruption within AIBA isn’t something new. Prior to the 2012 London Olympics the internationally respected British Broadcasting Corporation broadcast a mini-documentary on “Newsnight” alleging that unnamed “whistle blowers” told its reporters they had been informed about a deal for London Olympic medals by World Series Boxing chief operating officer Ivan Khodabakhsh, an Azerbaijan national of receiving about $10 million which AIBA allegedly needed because it had run into financial difficulties in the United States.

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In fairness to AIBA, it admitted that private investor Hamid Hamidov paid some $9 million to one of their competitions but denied it was linked to any medals deal in London.

A five-member panel headed by Dr. Tom Virgets conducted a probe and said later that the BBC allegations were “completely without merit” and disclosed that the investment was made by a single private investor for commercial purposes, namely to assist in the establishment and operation of US boxing franchises” and that it was a “purely commercial investment unconnected to the Olympic Games.”

(PART II DETAILS THE AIBA RESPONSE AND ITS BASIC PLANS TO INCLUDE PRO BOXERS IN THE OLYMPICS).

Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.