(ATR) All professional boxers could be eligible for the Rio Olympics this August if the sport’s governing body has its way.
The call for opening up the Olympics to professionals was a main agenda point at this week’s International Boxing Association (AIBA) commissions meeting in Manchester, England.
Following the meeting, AIBA confirms to Around the Rings that president C.K. Wu is planning an extraordinary congress this spring "to agree on the new rules that would open up Olympic Games eligibility for all boxers. "
In short, AIBA wants to give each national boxing federation the ability to pick any fighter it wants, professional or amateur, to be included in the qualifying procedures.
When asked by ATR if this would add more qualification spots or take away from the quotas of the current system, AIBA said that "it is premature to describe the process and the quotas allocated as the decision to register a boxer in AIBA competitions depends on his respective National Federation."
The changes could have more of an effect for the 2020 Games in Tokyo. That’s because many boxers have already qualified for Rio through the current rules and there are fewer spots available.
In addition, while AIBA wants to let each individual federation pick their own fighters, each federation would almost certainly have to alter its own qualification guidelines in order to take advantage of the new rules. That's a process that could take additional weeks and leave little or no time for any sort of qualification process.
The bottom line: don't expect to see Floyd Mayweather in the ring in Rio.
Written by Gerard Farek
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