Officials Confront Scoring Concerns
World Boxing plans to examine Artificial Intelligence to review fights and address long-standing scoring disputes. Leaders believe scoring issues block the organisation from gaining full IOC recognition. Outgoing president Boris van der Vorst stressed that boxing must restore trust in its judging. He said officials must ensure every bout ends with the correct winner. He argued that the sport struggles because juries influence results.
Van der Vorst confirmed that his team studies modern tools to improve accuracy. He said they want AI to help review action and rebuild confidence among athletes and fans. He explained that the evaluation process continues and requires further testing before adoption. He acknowledged that both IBA and World Boxing failed to resolve scoring doubts, which continue to overshadow the sport.
Ranking System Aims to Balance Competition
World Boxing recently launched a ranking structure to prevent top fighters from meeting early in major events. Van der Vorst said the system seeds athletes based on season-long results. He said this method rewards consistent performances and reduces unfair early eliminations.
He noted that boxers like India’s Nikhat Zareen suffered from the lack of seedings in earlier tournaments. She entered unseeded at the Paris Olympics despite winning two world titles and fought eventual champion Wu Yu in her second match. Under the new system, officials will rank athletes using results from all competitions in a season.
Van der Vorst said organisers have not finalised qualification rules for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. He said the group plans to review options and choose a model next year. He added that officials prefer a blend of continental and world qualifiers for now.
India’s Rise and Leadership Changes
Van der Vorst said India can become a future force in global boxing. He said young athletes across the country train with the dream of representing India at the Olympics. He pointed to strong results from India’s women at the World Championships in Liverpool. He also argued that India’s men possess huge potential and only need consistent appearances at major meets.
He previously served with the banned IBA before joining efforts to keep boxing in the Olympic programme. He will finish his term this month as World Boxing prepares to elect a new president.
