On the Scene: Boxing in Almaty - World Series Exhibition, New Scoring, Elections Ahead for AIBA

(ATR) An exhibition match in Almaty for the World Series of Boxing on the eve of the AIBA Congress…Elections, a new scoring system on the agenda, with England a no-show in Kazakhstan.

Exhibition for WSB

The Astana Arlans swept the Istanbulls in a final test event for the new World Series of Boxing. The five-bout program included a close match or two but the Arlans of Astana, capital city of Kazakhstan, generally dominated the Turkish side, which also was dealt a TKO.

With boxers minus headgear, midriff-bare ring girls in between rounds, to indoor fireworks and pounding music, the showmanship of the WSB is meant to cater to an audience with healthy levels of testosterone.

AIBA President hailed the WSB in opening remarks at the Astana Sports Palace. He believes the new event will be a popular fixture that gives boxers the chance to receive a steady salary and retain their Olympic eligibility.

The WSB is 75 percent owned by AIBA, 25 percent by sports management company IMG.

The league is comprised of 12 teams, four each in the Americas, Europe and Asia.

After a series of 12 matches per continent, ending in March, top teams move into semi-final matches in April with the championship match set for Macau May 7.

About 2000 loudly partisan spectators filled less than half the arena. A couple of hundred pairs of expert eyes watched from ringside: delegates from about 100 countries in Almaty for the AIBA Congress this week.

The event got mixed reviews from those experts, some saying the boxing wasn’t the best, others wishing for better refereeing. And still others said the event was a good first step for the WSB.

Seven IOC colleagues of Wu were on hand for the exhibition Sunday night. Dae Sung Moon of South Korea, Ung Chang of North Korea, Franceso Ricci-Bitti of the International Tennis Federation, Syed Shahid Ali of Pakistan, Samih Moudallal from Syria, Habu Gumel of Nigeria and Toni Khoury of Lebanon.

AIBA Congress Considers Scoring, Elections

Compared to the 2006 AIBA Congress held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, the 2010 meeting in Almaty promises to be a less fractious two days for the boxing federation.

Marked by delegate challenges, intrigue and bad blood, the federation seems to have moved on under the reforms and calming leadership style of C.K. Wu whowas narrowly elected in Santo Domingo. He toppled the 20-year regime of his predecessor, the late Anwar Chowdhry; at this week’s congress Wu is slated to return for a second four-year term, running unopposed for election after a challenge failed.

Wu’s would-be rival, English Boxing Association chief executive Paul King, will not be attending the meeting, leaving England without representation among the 100+ national federations which will be in Almaty. King could not muster the 20 signatures needed from national federations to be nominated as a candidate.

A challenge to the legitimacy of the congress launched by 13 national federations was rejected last week by a Swiss court.

Tom Virgets, a member of the AIBA Disciplinary Commission who was at the Santo Domingo Congress, tells Around theRings that there has been a night and day transformation for AIBA since then.

"There’s a high-level of professionalism that has replaced the way AIBA was run before," he says.

"One indicator of that was a 12-hour executive committee meeting [Saturday in Almaty] devoted to boxing – not how are we going to set up a deal for the good old boys," says Virgets.

Opening day of the meeting will bring debate and a vote on a revamped scoring system that is aimed at eliminating any chance of match fixing. Reforms already enacted under Wu’s presidency have significantly curtailed the incidence of suspect decisions in international competition.

The elections are set for Tuesday. The presidency and three of four continental vice presidents are assured election as unopposed. For the Asian seat, Gafur Rakhimov of Uzbekistan and Jianping Chang of China will square off.

The real battles are taking place for 19 seats on the AIBA Executive: 50 candidates have qualified. Elections will take place for continental seats, followed by at-large voting to fill the remaining seats on the committee. On Sunday, candidates were busy in the lobby and dining room of the Rixos Hotel, meeting with delegates, cajoling them for votes.

While the voting to re-elect Wu and the vice presidents will be straightforward, the elections for the executive committee is expected to last a couple of hours.

Written and reported in Almaty by "Edgar" Hula.