Unified world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk has issued a heartfelt plea to officials to clean up amateur boxing as the sport battles to retain its place at the 2028 Games.
The Ukrainian superstar made his feelings known while attending the ongoing 2024 competition.
Amateur boxing, introduced into the Olympics in 1904, has been ever-present at every Summer Games since 1920.
Despite its long association with the Olympics, the sport faces the possibility of being dropped altogether in 2028.
According to talkSPORT, this is because the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is reportedly unhappy with the standards of governance in international amateur boxing.
The situation is so dire that boxing was almost removed from Paris 2024 due to a dispute between the IOC and the previous governing body, the International Boxing Association (IBA).
The IBA was prevented from overseeing the competition in 2020, prior to the Tokyo Olympics, due to concerns from the IOC over how the contests were being scored and judged.
Regrettably, issues with judging do not appear to have been cleaned up, as the early rounds of the 2024 tournament have featured a number of controversial decisions.
Speaking to SNTV, Usyk suggested that the only way to preserve boxing’s future at the Olympics was to take decisive action to clean up the sport at the amateur level.
The 37-year-old declared: “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 rounded out his statement by pointing out that members of the Ukraine amateur boxing team had worked hard to make it to the Games, despite the country being at war with Russia.
“I think boxing will be in the Olympic Games. We [Ukraine] are at war. But our athletes still came. They are fighting.”
Historical Olympic boxing controversies have included legends like Roy Jones Jr. and Floyd Mayweather losing out on gold as a result of questionable judging.
This unfortunate trend has continued at Paris 2024, with Team GB’s Rosie Eccles and Delicious Orie falling victim to contentious decisions.
Eccles lost her welterweight clash with Poland’s Aneta Rygielska, while Orie was eliminated on the scorecards despite appearing to have won his bout against Armenia’s Davit Chaloyan.
After the fight, Orie told The Independent that he felt like “a medal had been stolen from him”.
