POSTED: Monday August 31st 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AIBA 'taking boxing to the next level'

AIBA World Congress for Referees and Judges - Milan

Shortly after AIBA President Dr Ching-Kuo Wu had closed the first ever AIBA World Congress for Referees and Judges, Julian Jackson, three times former world professional champion now coach to the US Virgin Islands at the AIBA World Championships, declared that the work AIBA is doing is “taking boxing to the next level”.

The Congress, at the Pieve Emanuele City Gym in Milan, attracted 200 delegates from throughout the AIBA boxing family including coaches and other National Federation officials, as well as more than 100 referees and judges.

Under the auspices of Terry Smith, AIBA Referees and Judges Commission Chairman, the first part of the Congress addressed plans for a new scoring system and the new approach to qualifications, examinations and certification for match officials.

One of President Wu’s first pledges on being elected AIBA President at the end of 2006 was to improve the level of officiating in boxing by adopting more transparency and fairness across AIBA’s competitions. Moves to standardize training and examinations for referees and judges across the globe are an essential part of this effort.

The afternoon session began with a detailed explanation from Olivier Niamkey of the International Olympic Committee of how Olympic Solidarity works and what the National Federations must do in order to benefit from it. Olympic Solidarity has more than a quarter of a billion US dollars to spend every four years on under-privileged athletes and coaches.

Other presentations included the World Series of Boxing, the AIBA Grant Program, the AIBA Academy, the new AIBA World Rankings and plans for a new scoring system to be implemented after the AIBA World Championships which begin in Milan on Tuesday.

“I think it was very informative,” said Jackson, the former world middleweight champion. “What AIBA is doing not only in the amateur world but in the professional world is going to take boxing to the next level, and I want to congratulate AIBA on what they’re doing.”

Mik Basi from England, one of the 45 elite referees and judges who will be in action at the Mediolanum Forum from Tuesday, said: “From an R & J point of view it was fantastic. I was particularly interested in the new scoring system. It looks good and I’d like to see how it evolves because I think that everybody in the sport is looking for a change in the scoring system.”

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Keywords · AIBA · boxing · AIBA World Congress for Referees and Judges · AIBA World Championships · Dr Ching-Kuo Wu

Name: Richard Baker
Organization: AIBA - International Boxing Association
Email:
Phone: +41213212777
URL: http://www.aiba.org/

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