By Ronnie Nathanielsz



Taking a strong stand against the plans of AIBA, the international governing body for boxing under the International Olympic Committee, to allow professionals to compete in the Olympic Games as early as this year in Rio, the World Boxing Council under president Mauricio Sulaiman has announced that “any world champion or top 15 ranked boxer per divisions of the WBC that participates in the Olympic games would be immediately expelled.”



The WBC said it reached the decision after analyzing the worldwide opinions of the boxing community, sports members and medical advisers.



The WBC statement said “It is not possible to imagine, much less accept a fight between professional boxers, who already have a physical development and more advanced technical skills, facing young fighters that are just starting this process.”



The WBC made it clear that “Boxing is not a game. There is no scoring with goals or baskets. Rather, it is a contact sport which must be taken seriously. Reasoning must prevail, the function of all bodies must be always to care and regulate the safety and health of boxers.”



The WBC ruling means that should eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao accept the invitation of AIBA president Dr. Wu to compete in Rio with the privilege of not having to compete in the preliminary rounds he would be banned under the WBC ruling.