“When you have no fear at all, your adversaries retreat,” International Boxing Association (AIBA) president Wu Ching-kuo of Taiwan says as he recalls one of the lessons he learned when he was a member of his high-school boxing club.
Now, Wu is committed to continuing to apply that lesson to the reforms that he has initiated over the past eight years.
“The work is never-ending. Although a lot of effort has been put into the improvement of our sport, I must say the work has to be continued” until a solid foundation is laid, Wu said yesterday at the opening of a two-day congress on Jeju Island, South Korea.
Among other things, the congress of representatives from the 196-member AIBA is expected to elect Wu to a third four-year term.
Wu faces no contenders and has been nominated by half of all the national federations affiliated to the global organization, which still has the acronym AIBA based on its full name in French — Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur, which was founded in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1946.
A tireless champion of the sport, Wu talked in an interview about his proudest moments since taking over from Pakistan’s Anwar Chowdhry in 2006 to become the first Taiwanese person to head an international sports federation.
He succeeded in having women’s boxing added as one of the official sports of the summer Olympics in 2012 and said he felt vindicated when statistics showed that it was one of the sports watched by the largest numbers of TV viewers worldwide during the London Olympiad.
Last year, he managed after three trips to Cuba to get that country, a nation with a strong amateur boxing tradition, to take part in the World Series of Boxing (WBS), which was launched by the AIBA in 2010.
The WBS itself is an innovation as, despite its nature as a professional competition, participating boxers are allowed to maintain eligibility to compete in the Olympics.
During his two terms as AIBA president, Wu led reforms that include ensuring fairness by recruiting and training new referees who are not part of national teams and establishing a training and testing institution in the form of the AIBA World Boxing Academy, which is based in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Wu, who has been a member of the International Olympic Committee since 1988, said it required a lot of courage for him to take on Chowdhry for the second time in 2006. By that time, the Pakistani had presided over the AIBA for two decades.
In the end, Wu recalled, he beat Chowdhry by four votes (83-79) and was hoisted and thrown into the air by his supporters at the congress in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.
Wu, 68, said that since then, he has faced every challenge “head on, without making any compromises.”
Looking to the future, he said the AIBA will seek gender equality at the Olympics by increasing the women’s boxing weight categories from three to 10.
In addition, he wants to see AIBA Pro Boxing (APB) thrive after its launch last month.
APB is unique in that it allows boxers to turn pro yet remain under the patronage of their National Federation, and therefore the AIBA, throughout their career.
According to the APB Web site, this means that for the first time ever, a boxer can turn professional and also preserve his eligibility to compete in the Olympics and in continental championships.
Wu attributed his determination to push through the reforms to boxing as a high-school student in Taipei, saying he was deeply attracted to the heroism embodied by the sport.
“I like boxing because it is a sport that requires courage,” he said. “And as a boy, one should cultivate one’s courage and face up to difficulties. Once you’re in the ring, there is nowhere to hide. Win or lose, you just have to face your opponent and take some punches.”
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
CHANCE TO QUALIFY: Both teams now have three points from two games, and Taiwan sit ahead of Vietnam and behind Japan, who last night beat India 11-0 Taiwan yesterday defeated Vietnam 1-0 to move into second place in Group C at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup with one match remaining. Su Yu-hsuan scored the decisive goal in the 26th minute after Taiwan midfielder Saki Matsunaga’s shot hit the crossbar, leaving Su to nod the rebound into an empty net for the team which won the last of their three Asian Cup titles in 1981. It was a deserved victory for Taiwan, 2-0 losers to Japan on Wednesday, who created several chances to extend their lead. Vietnam, the 2022 quarter-finalist, beat India in their opener, but struggled to
RSS