Russia’s Umar Kremlev was elected President of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) at the AIBA Virtual Congress last weekend.

With 155 out of 158 voting delegates from eligible AIBA National Federations present, the quorum was reached.

To win outright, an absolute majority was needed – 78 votes. If no candidate got this number of votes, voting would then go into the next round. From the second round onwards, the candidate with the lowest number of votes would be removed.

1st round:

Umar Kremlev                         59 votes    39.86%

Boris Van der Vorst               34 votes     22.97%

Anas Al Otaiba                       23 votes     15.54%

Mohamed Moustahsane       19 votes     12.84%

Suleyman Mikayilov              13 votes     8.78%

Abstentions and blank votes 7 votes

2nd round:

Umar Kremlev                        66 votes     44.30%

Boris Van der Vorst               38 votes     25.50%

Mohamed Moustahsane       19 votes     12.75%

Anas Al Otaiba                       18 votes     12.08%

Suleyman Mikayilov              8 votes        5.37%

Abstentions and blank votes 6 votes

3rd round:

Umar Kremlev                        73 votes     49.66%

Boris Van der Vorst               38 votes     25.85%

Mohamed Moustahsane       22 votes     14.97%

Anas Al Otaiba                       14 votes      9.52%

Abstentions and blank votes 6 votes

4th round:

Umar Kremlev                        86 votes     57.33%

Boris Van der Vorst               45 votes     30.00%

Mohamed Moustahsane       19 votes     12.67%

Abstentions and blank votes 5 votes

Umar Kremlev got 86 votes in the fourth round and won the election with a 57.33% vote share.

Ireland beat Italy at the National Stadium almost ten years ago on a night of top-class performances from the home side.

Two-time Irish Olympian John Joe Nevin, Tyrone McCullough, Eric Donovan, Ray Moylette, John Joe Joyce, Darren O’Neill and Con Sheehan had their hands raised in victory.

Big performances also from Gary Molloy, Jimmy Moore, Philip Sutcliffe, Disha Gezim and David Joyce, who was beaten by Olympic champion Roberto Cammarella.

Eric Donovan and Con Sheehan outpointed World champions Domenico Valentino and Clemente Russo on the night.

Click here for full results and results from Belfast.

Ireland v Italy

National Stadium Dublin, Ireland March 12,2010

51kg Vincenzo Picardi beat Gary Molloy 7:2
51kg Alex Ferramosca beat Jimmy Moore 13:7
54kg John Joe Nevin beat Vittorio Parrinello 11:3
57kg Tyrone McCullough beat Alessio di Savino 10:6
60kg Eric Donovan beat Domenico Valentino 11:8
64kg Raymond Moylett beat Vincenzo Mangiacapre 10:0
64kg Davide Cenciarelli beat Philip Sutcliffe 16:14
69kg John Joe Joyce beat Diego di Luisa 15:5
75kg Darren O’Neill beat Luca Podda 11:1
81kg Simone Fiori beat Disha Gezim 10:3
91kg Con Sheehan beat Clemente Russo 4:2
+91kg Roberto Cammarelle beat David Joyce 15:4

Last Friday 11/12/20, the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) held the 2020 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the company via the zoom digital platform. The Annual General Meeting was an historic event as it was the first AGM hosted by the Board of Directors.

The agenda on the night included an opening address from the Chairperson of the IABA Ciaran Kirwan and a closing address from National President and member of the board Dominic O’Rourke. The 2020 Anti-doping report was delivered by the National Treasurer and Anti-doping Officer Larry Morrison. While the 2020 Safeguarding Report was delivered by the National Operations & Safeguarding Manager David Britton.

IABA auditors BKRM delivered the 2019 Financial Report which was subsequently unanimously accepted by all voting delegates on the night. As was the reappointment of the auditors which again was unanimously accepted by all voting delegates.

The IABA would like to thank all members who attended the event. It is understood that the digital platform can be problematic for some members to access and it is hoped that a face to face meeting can be held in the new year pending Covid-19 restrictions.

Wishing you all a safe & happy Christmas.

Board of Directors IABA.

Russia’s Umar Kremlev was elected AIBA President at the AIBA Virtual Congress on Saturday.

One hundred and fifty-five National Associations, including Ireland, took part in the AIBA Congress.

Six candidates were in the running for the Presidency.

Please click here for further information.

The AIBA also adopted a new Constitution.

Dear members,

Please be advised, over the last number of weeks, several discussions and meetings have been conducted via zoom with Paul McDermott from Sport Ireland, Peter Hogan and James Lavelle from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, the IABA CEO, President, H.P. Director, Operations Manager and Hon Secretary, with regards to a return to full contact training and competition for Elite Boxers. Unfortunately, during protracted discussions, it was confirmed that the Elite Championships planned to take place in January 2021, must now be rescheduled.

The Return to Sport Expert Group, which includes Sport Ireland and Government representatives, recognised the great work which has been conducted by boxing clubs over the last 10 months. Further, they acknowledged the frustration being felt throughout our sport due to current restrictions associated to Covid-19. The Department officials and Sport Ireland were extremely complementary in relation to the vast body of excellent work which has been conducted to prepare the provisions and protocols submitted by IABA to the Expert Group, which they expressed as being of the highest standard.

Despite this endorsement and numerous attempts by members representing the IABA to push for a return to meaningful training and the return of competitive boxing in January 2021. It was made clear that at this present time, given the current government restrictions and the high likelihood of a January 2021 post-Christmas spike, that no amount of provisions or protocols would be sufficient to mitigate the anticipated restriction levels in January.  

The Chair of the Expert Group, Peter Hogan, gave a strong undertaking that they would fully support the IABA’s efforts to run our Elite Championships as soon as possible in 2021. He also outlined their hope that in January 2021, the Government would be exploring additional amendments to the current restrictions with the intention that it would assist sporting organisations to return to meaningful training and potentially allow for the return of competition at certain levels.

The IABA outlined the timeframe for Olympic qualification and the necessity for the Championships to take place prior to the next Olympic qualifier in April. It was agreed that additional talks would take place early in January with the intention of establishing a plan which would allow athletes the time to prepare for an Elite championship and for the competition to take place in advance of the scheduled Olympic qualifier in April.  

It is with an extremely heavy heart that we must deliver this news which comes as another body blow to amateur boxing, following what has been arguably the toughest period the sport has endured in living memory. However, we wanted to present our membership with this information in as timely a fashion as possible and in turn allowing our boxers/coaches to alter their training over the Christmas period until more clarity is provided.

Again, we are doing our best to fight the good fight for Irish boxing, but overriding circumstances and problems caused by the Covid-19 global pandemic are completely beyond our control. That said, we will continue to champion the cause of boxing until we get back in the ring.