IOC meets to vote on allowing professional boxers to compete at Rio Olympics

Boxing’s governing body will decide on Wednesday whether to let professional fighters into the Olympic ring from the Rio de Janeiro Games in August.

But the International Boxing Association (Aiba) will also have to answer questions about its dope-testing policies when it gathers before an International Olympic Committee executive meeting in Lausanne that will be dominated by doping scandals.

Aiba members are to hold a special congress to decide whether to let professionals into the Olympics.

While the boxing revolution is unlikely to see the likes of former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko or top American fighters compete for gold in Rio it would boost the card for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

For most professionals, it is already too late to take part in a qualifying contest for the Rio Games. The last tournament is in Venezuela in July.

Letting in professionals is “part of the evolution of boxing”, said a senior Aiba official ahead of Wednesday’s vote which is expected to easily pass.

Ukraine’s Klitschko won a gold medal at Atlanta in 1996 and had indicated he would like a new try in Rio. But he has made his July 9 rematch with Britain’s Tyson Fury for the world heavyweight title his priority.