The International Boxing Association demanded that World Boxing change its name

The International Boxing Association (IBA), led by Russian Umar Kremlev, has demanded that rival World Boxing, which aims to oust the “old” federation from governing amateur boxing, abandon its name. A letter sent by the IBA to World Boxing management states that the “World Boxing” trademark is owned by the IBA itself. The deadline to fulfill the requirements is October 26.

International Boxing Association demanded from the structure called World Boxing, to abandon its own name. Also in a letter sent by the IBA management to the Secretary General of World Boxing Simon Toolson, there is a demand to abandon the use of the “World Boxing Tour” brand. The document, which was published by Insidethegames, states that the names “World Boxing” as well as the “World Boxing Tour” are officially registered intellectual property of the IBA. Thus, the competing structure violates the rights of the association.

The violation is proposed to be corrected no later than October 26. The IBA demands that the alternative organization remove the World Boxing and World Boxing Tour designations from all of its materials, including official documents, websites, and social media. Otherwise, the IBA will go to court. “Such actions not only cause reputational and financial harm to the IBA, but also mislead the global boxing community about the legitimacy of the organization, especially when we discover that another boxing organization is using trademarks owned by the IBA. In light of these observations, we are demanding that this fraudulent organization cease its illegal use of trademarks,” said IBA CEO Chris Roberts.

In the database of the Swiss Institute of Intellectual Property, the body responsible for registering trademarks, patents, design projects and other things, the trademarks “World Boxing” and “World Boxing Tour” are indeed listed under the IBA. True, their registration is dated May 2023, that is, a month after World Boxing was established.

It is not clear, however, how significant this circumstance can become (after all, no one stopped the new federation from registering the rights to its own brand) if the matter comes to trial.

World Boxing itself has not yet decided on further steps. The press service of the structure told Insidethegames that they received the letter, but at the moment there is nothing to say, since consultations with lawyers are ongoing.

World Boxing was created in April 2023 by several national boxing federations dissatisfied with the policies of the IBA. The founders of the alternative structure were the national boxing federations of the USA (the Americans hold first place in the number of Olympic gold medals – 50), Great Britain (third place in the number of Olympic gold medals – 20), Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, New Zealand and the Philippines. The expansion of World Boxing was announced in August. The boxing federations of Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Honduras, and Canada joined the structure.

Obviously, the timing for the creation of a new federation was not chosen by chance. After all, already in June the International Olympic Committee (IOC) deprived IBA of recognition, effectively excluding her from its composition. This is the first time in its history that the IOC has taken such a step. The decision should not be considered final yet. The IBA has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to overturn the IOC’s decision.

The hearing of the case will begin on November 16. But in any case, it is difficult to imagine that relations between the IOC and IBA will normalize, even if CAS restores the status of the boxing federation.

The relationship between the IOC and the IBA has deteriorated since the end of the last decade. The IBA experienced a multi-layered: financial, administrative and organizational crisis. The IOC insisted on restructuring the federation, but what it did did not suit the IOC. After all, in 2019 the IOC for the first time recalled recognition from the federation, depriving it of the right to control Olympic tournaments and qualifications for them (the boxing tournament in Tokyo 2020 was held by the IOC itself, and will also be held in Paris 2024).

It seems that relations between the structures could improve after the election of the IBA president in 2020 Russian Umar Kremlev. Under him, the federation got rid of debts, and its new financial capabilities made it possible to increase payments to the winners of the world championships to the previously incredible amount of $200 thousand (with a fivefold increase in medium-term plans), it also carried out a reform of refereeing, significantly reducing the number of scandals. But the IOC did not soften its position; on the contrary, it rather became even tougher.

Arnold Kabanov