Menu
Download the app

SBJ subscribers – Enhance your experience with the revamped iOS app

Olympics

Women's Boxing Proving Worthy Of Its Spot In Olympics Halfway Through Games

Women’s boxing at the Rio Games has "not only proved it belongs, it has shown it deserves to grow" prior to the '20 Tokyo Games, according to Kevin Baxter of the L.A. TIMES. The Int'l Boxing Association (AIBA) is discussing the "possibility of doubling the weight classes to six" by '20 after just debuting a women's discipline in London four years ago. U.S. boxer Mikaela Mayer said, "The girls that have turned professional and are fighting in the pro ranks don’t really have as lucrative of a career as some of us amateur girls, who are fighting consistently. We’re getting sponsors, endorsements ... monthly stipends. We’re able to make this our living right now." Baxter notes AIBA President Ching-Ku Wu "made a number of changes since taking over as AIBA president 10 years ago." Boxers "are fighting without headgear, scoring is done on a 10-point 'must' system and, for the first time, three professional fighters are competing in the Olympic tournament." However, AIBA Senior Manager of Corporate & Media Relations Nicolas Jomard said that the most important reform "has been the addition of women" (L.A. TIMES, 8/16).

READY FOR ROUND TWO: In N.Y., Ken Belson notes this is the first Olympics pro boxers have been able to participate, but since the decision was not made until June, "only three of them qualified" for Rio. Wu said that he "expected more professionals to take part in the Tokyo Games ... because they would have more time to prepare." However, promoters and rival sanctioning organizations are concerned that the AIBA will have "too strong a hold over the sport and -- although they do not say it directly -- that it will cut into their profits." AIBA already "runs the World Series of Boxing, a team-based tournament that includes professionals, and persuading more fighters to box in the Olympics could be a ploy to expand its role in the professional world." Soon after AIBA "made its decision on professionals," the WBC and IBF said that "titleholders would lose their belts if they fought in the Olympics, citing safety concerns." Belson notes the bigger question is "whether professionals will even want to box at the Olympics." The benefits of boxing in the Olympics for established fighters "are limited because winning anything other than a gold medal may be viewed as a failure" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/16).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2016/08/16/Olympics/Boxing.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2016/08/16/Olympics/Boxing.aspx

CLOSE