[Photo Credit to Pixabay]

The IOC has officially included boxing as an official sport in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Cycle.

The announcement followed several years of uncertainty regarding the sports’ future in the Olympic program because of governance issues.

Another contributing factor was the maladies of the sports’ international federation, the International Boxing Association, also known as the IBA, in finances.

Following the conclusions of the IOC that include boxing in the Olympic program are intended to strengthen the sport’s long history of its participation in the game.

Boxing is now regarded with esteem and officially recognized as an Olympic sport.

Boxing has maintained its rightful place in the Olympic Games since 1904, with the activity being held up in the Summer Games excepting those in Stockholm in 1912. 

The internal governance problems and financial insolvency of the IBA had increasingly threatened the inclusion of boxing in the Olympic games, increasing after the IBA’s management issues during the Rio 2016 Olympics triggered a consideration by the IOC of saving the IBA as an Olympic sport in the future.

The IOC suspended the IBA from participating in 2018, accusing them of corruption, mismanagement, and not cooperating, leading to the IBA getting excluded on the first list of combat sports in the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

However, the IOC later decided to reinstate boxing under the exclusive cancellation of its own Boxing Task Force (BTF) as a demonstration event for the Tokyo games.

At the conclusion of the 2020 Games, the IOC finally recommended that boxing should be reinstated as an Olympic sport for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

The decision to include boxing in  Los Angeles 2028 was officially confirmed in March 2025.

Across various quarters, the presence of boxing in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics is celebrated as a grand victory for the sport and its athletes.

The IOC’s decision came after thoroughness and numerous questions through thorough reviews of the management and governance of the sport, with many officials acknowledging the recent improvements made by the IBA.

“The inclusion of boxing in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles is a historic moment for the sport,” the president of IOC, Thomas Bach stated, “Boxing has been an integral part of the Olympic Games for more than a century, and it is essential that we ensure its continued presence at the highest level of competition. Reforms that the IBA has undertaken have become an important condition for boxing’s positioning squarely within the Olympic movement.”

There were many other supporters of the IOC decision including boxing experts, who focused on and highlighted the significance of the sport in the global athlete’s arena for their reasons. 

David Higgins, a renowned boxing historian and a well-known commentator, remarked, “Boxing is one of the oldest and most celebrated Olympic sports, and its inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will allow future generations of athletes to showcase their skills on the world’s biggest stage.”

As one of the oldest and esteemed sports in the Olympics, its inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is, and will allow future generations to enjoy the sport and develop their skills as much as we did before.