(SEPT 18) The President of World Boxing, Boris
van der Vorst, will not be seeking a second term in the forthcoming Presidential
election which will be held at World Boxing’s third annual Congress in November
2025.
The decision was announced by Boris van der Vorst in a personal letter to the
Presidents of all of World Boxing’s member National Federations today (Thursday
18 September 2025).
In the letter, van der Vorst wrote: “I am writing to you personally to confirm
that after long and careful deliberations I have made the decision to not seek
re-election as the President of World Boxing and will not be standing as a
candidate in the forthcoming election at World Boxing’s third annual Congress in
November 2025.”
The letter went on to highlight the major achievements of World Boxing under van
der Vorst’s tenure as President, which include: growing its membership to more
than120 National Federations from all five Continents; establishing an annual
competition calendar that recently included the inaugural World Boxing
Championships 2025 for elite men and women; and securing provisional recognition
for World Boxing from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which, in March
2025, resulted in the reinstatement of boxing at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic
Games (LA28).
Commenting on these in his letter, van der Vorst wrote: That we have achieved
our primary objective of keeping boxing at the heart of the Olympic Movement is
a source of huge pride and the realization of a dream.
“It was only possible thanks to the support and close cooperation of many
colleagues from every continent. Many of those colleagues will be reading this
letter and I am deeply grateful to all of you.”
Explaining the reasons for his decision not to seek re-election, van der Vorst
added: “My time as President has been fulfilling and inspiring, but it has also
been relentless. After years of global travel and the daily demands of building
World Boxing from the ground up to meet the requirements of the IOC and other
stakeholders, I have concluded that I will not commit to another term as
President.
“World Boxing is firmly established and recognized, and it is time for new
leadership to guide the organization towards Dakar 2026 and Los Angeles 2028.”
A statement from the Executive Board of World Boxing said: “The Executive Board
would like to thank Boris for his hard work and commitment over the last three
years and the vital contribution he has made to the achievements of World Boxing
in helping to establish the organization and in his tenure as its first
President.
“Boris has played a key role in enabling World Boxing to secure recognition as
the International Federation for boxing within the Olympic Movement and the
subsequent reinstatement of the sport at the Games in Los Angeles. In being part
of this, he has helped to keep the Olympic dream alive for tens of thousands of
male and female boxers across the world and ensure that they will have the
opportunity to compete on the biggest stage in sport.
“We wish Boris and his family all the very best for the future and in whatever
he goes on to do once his term as President has come to an end.”
The window for nominating candidates to take part in elections at the World
Boxing Congress in November is now closed. In line with the processes set-out in
World Boxing’s ‘Election process And Voting Regulations’ policy HERE all of the
candidates will be assessed for eligibility by an independent Vetting Panel
using open-source materials.
The Vetting Panel is made up of three independent, external experts that do not
have any involvement or knowledge of World Boxing and will be supported by the
leading independent provider of sport-specific arbitration and mediation
services, Sport Resolutions.
Once the vetting process has been completed a final list of eligible candidates
will be published no later than 30 days before the elections take place.
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