Former heavyweight ruler Wladimir Klitschko has reacted to the news that boxing will appear at the LA 2028 Olympic Games.
The boxing legend won gold at the Atlanta Games in 1996 and is delighted to see the sport secured for Los Angeles in three years. Following the International Olympic Committee’s decision to switch from the IBA to World Boxing, citing ethical issues, boxing’s inclusion found a safe passage.
World Boxing has secured 88 national boxing federation members as the International Boxing Association [formerly AIBA] moved towards the professional side of the sport.
Klitschko, who holds the second-longest reigning heavyweight champion in history after the great Joe Louis, said: “This is absolutely fantastic news.
“Winning Olympic gold was one of the biggest highlights of my career. I would hate to see that opportunity taken away from future generations.”
He added, “The Olympic Games are so important to our sport. Not being part of them would have been a disaster for boxing and boxers everywhere, from the grassroots to the professionals.”
‘Dr. Steelhammer’ took his hat off to the work done by World Boxing and former pound-for-pound king Gennadiy Golovkin.
“This is another great comeback story for boxing. It has been a long, hard battle, but the right decision has been reached in the end. I would like to personally thank and congratulate everyone connected with World Boxing for their work to save boxing as an Olympic sport.”
Richard Torrez Jr, who silver at Tokyo 2020 for the USA, added: “World Boxing securing boxing in the LA 2028 Olympics will bring the boxing community together like never before.
“This is a great accomplishment and a true testament that the Olympics are better with boxing than without. This will inspire generations of boxers to achieve their lifelong dream of winning gold.”
Boxing at LA 2028
IOC President Thomas Bach began the Olympic Boxing approval process last month, updating Worldboxingnews.com on Monday. The executive board took a unanimous vote before releasing Thursday’s decision to the public.
Signing so many national federations was key to securing the sport’s inclusion at the LA games. Thanks to the vision of World Boxing President Boris Van der Vorst, years of doubt can now be put behind pugilism as the major step to keeping the sport’s Olympic presence is taken.
His decision to add ‘GGG’ into the mix also proved a masterstroke as boxing faced a precarious future after the Paris and Tokyo Olympics.
The members of World Boxing can begin early preparations before a great boxing tournament to decide the qualifiers. Several boxing events will occur between now and the final date for qualification. Details of the boxing competition as part of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic program will be released soon.
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Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay. Learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor since 2010.
