ABAP severs ties with IBA
By Joaquin Henson
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 22 Mar 2025
Ricky Vargas.
There’s no turning back for ABAP which has dissociated itself from IBA and will participate in events only sanctioned by World Boxing and Asian Boxing.
World Boxing, organized in April 2023, was recently given provisional recognition by the IOC Executive Board as the new international federation within the Olympic Movement. The affirmation led to IOC’s decision to include boxing in the 2028 LA Olympic calendar during its 144th General Assembly in Costa Navarino, Greece, last Thursday. IOC had previously removed boxing after disenfranchising IBA and said it could only be restored if a new international federation would be accredited. World Boxing now has 84 member nations from five continents.
Asian Boxing was established last year as World Boxing’s regional affiliate and is recognized by the Olympic Council of Asia. Its creation has diminished recognition of the Asian Boxing Confederation (ASBC) which is affiliated with IBA. ABAP chairman Ricky Vargas was at the forefront of fighting for reforms in amateur boxing and played a leadership role in forming World Boxing and Asian Boxing where he is a member of both Boards.
“Asian Boxing is aligned with World Boxing and will have its first Congress this year,” said Vargas. “Asian Boxing and its members have all left ASBC. It passed a resolution to allow non-members to join tournaments as long as they’re part of the region. ABAP believes in the principles that World Boxing stands for----transparency, proper governance, integrity in all aspects of tournament management and financial honesty. All, for the well-being of boxers. This is for their benefit as we owe it to them to provide a better, safer and fair environment to showcase their skills and compete for the highest honors. We celebrate boxing’s return to the Olympic stage and beyond that, to continue building a better and stronger boxing community.”
ABAP secretary-general Marcus Manalo confirmed declining invitations from IBA and ASBC to join their competitions. The final IBA-sanctioned tournament where ABAP participated was the ASBC Elite Championships in Thailand last December. “IBA promised incentives and we’re still waiting for $12,000 we earned, $4,000 for one boxer and $2,000 each for four but I believe IBA hasn’t also given incentives to boxers from other national federations,” said Manalo.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Joaquin Henson.
Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:
WEIGHTS, IMAGES, RUNNING ORDER AND THE LAST WORDS AHEAD OF ADAMES VS. WILLIAMS IN ORLANDO
Sat, 21 Mar 2026COPPER BOX ARENA FIGHT NIGHT: WEIGH-IN RESULTS AND RUNNING ORDER CONFIRMED AS LIDDARD AND DENNY FACE-OFF FOR FINAL TIME
Sat, 21 Mar 2026Weights From ‘Martinez vs. Aleem’ Event from the NOS Event Center in San Bernardino and Broadcast live on ProBoxTV
Sat, 21 Mar 2026Jordan Orozco Training Camp Notes
Sat, 21 Mar 2026Towns vs. Bordin for PAT Belt; De Barbo, Nancholas, Samiei in Supporting Bouts at Brico Santig's Exciting Show in Pattaya Beach, Thailand
By Carlos Costa, Fri, 20 Mar 2026YOENIS TELLEZ TRAINING CAMP QUOTES
Fri, 20 Mar 2026Lebron James ties the most game played in NBA history
By Gabriel F. Cordero, Fri, 20 Mar 2026Pichay supports GM Antonio's Australian chess circuit campaign
By Marlon Bernardino, Fri, 20 Mar 2026LIDDARD-DENNY PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES IN FULL: EVERYTHING THAT WAS SAID AHEAD OF SATURDAY'S COPPER BOX FIGHT NIGHT
Fri, 20 Mar 2026Round 12 with Mauricio Sulaiman: The WBC Continues the Fight for the Good of the Sport
By Mauricio Sulaimán, Fri, 20 Mar 2026AMMO: ADAMES FIGHT WILL BE EXPLOSIVE
Fri, 20 Mar 2026Carlos De Leon Training Camp Notes
Fri, 20 Mar 2026The Highly Anticipated Box Fan Expo Invitational 2026 Returns with A USA Boxing Amateur Show
Fri, 20 Mar 2026Placibe, Sales tops Sprint Challenge
By Lito delos Reyes, Fri, 20 Mar 2026Lester Martinez vs. Immanuwel Aleem Los Angeles Media Day Quotes
Thu, 19 Mar 2026