ABAP chairman Ricky Vargas is set to attend the crucial World Boxing Congress in Rome on Nov. 23 when the elections for president, vice president and two board seats will be held. WB president Boris van der Vorst will not run for another term, leaving the position wide open with Gennady Golovkin of Kazakhstan, Vladimir Klitschko of Ukraine and Haris Mariolis of Greece rumored to be leading candidates. Aside from the elections, the Congress will take up a series of other votes pertinent to the organization’s business.
There is talk that Klitschko will withdraw from the race to support Golovkin, an Olympic medalist and former world middleweight champion. Golovkin, 43, is the Kazakhstan Olympic Committee president.
Vargas is a member of the WB Board and will serve two more years on his term. ‘Boris will not run for reelection,’ confirmed Vargas. ‘I will stay in the Board as I have a four-year term, having garnered the highest number of votes in the last elections so two more years to go.’ Vargas said the candidates for president have not been officially announced as WB will reveal the candidates 30 days before the polls after a vetting process. ‘Definitely, the next president will impact the Olympic supervision,’ noted the Executive Board member of WB affiliate Asian Boxing. A candidate for WB vice president is Thailand Boxing Association secretary-general Khun Chaiwat.
Under Van der Vorst’s administration, WB’s membership has grown to 125 national federations in two years since its inception in 2023. The Philippines was the first Asian country to align with WB and led the region’s affiliation. Last February, IOC granted provisional recognition to WB as the international federation within the Olympic movement, reinstating boxing in the LA calendar.