Boxing, one of the Olympics’ most ‘pure’ and accessible sports, could be axed for 2028. The Aussies say this would be ‘a crime against humanity’.
| There are Olympic sports at which Australia dazzles, and there are sports where it fizzles. Boxing has always been one of the also-rans: just six medals in 116 years, not one of them gold.
Harry Garside, the 27-year-old who broke Australia’s 33-year medal drought with a bronze at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, says that would be “a crime against humanity”, as boxing is one of the most accessible sports in the competition.But he can worry about that later. His first job is to get another medal round his neck – and now that he’s in Paris, he’s really feeling that raw boxer’s energy.
Super-heavyweight boxer Teremoana Teremoana, a two-metre giant of Cook Islands heritage, exudes plenty of that. His first job is to avenge defeat against the reigning champion Bakhodir Jalolov, whom he will face in an early round.“I’m really here for a rematch, and the gold medal is a secondary goal for me,” he says. Their previous encounter ended with a ref’s call to end the fight – prematurely, in Teramoana’s view. “I can’t take that from him.
It’s a complicated story, involving allegations of corruption at the International Boxing Association, which used to administer the sport. For Tokyo and Paris, the IOC kicked out the IBA and ran the boxing competition itself. But it is impatient for a cleaned-up successor organisation to emerge from the ashes. The Aussies can only hope.
“Only four women have qualified for Australia for boxing before this Olympics, and now this time we’ve got six women, half the team. … It’s amazing, and we’re seeing the growth both in Australia and around the world in women’s boxing. It would be an absolute crime if it was out of the next Olympics.”Garside argues that if the IOC cares about making sport accessible and universal, then it should be keeping boxing inside the tent.
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