Exclusive: IOC doubts and questions over marketing deal contribute to Boris van der Vorst decision not to seek second term as World Boxing President

Dutchman announces he is stepping down at the end of his two-year term having secured boxing’s place on the Olympic programme at LA28. Boxing legend Gennady Golovkin is the favourite to succeed him

Boris van der Vorst, the public face of the campaign to save boxing in the Olympics, has announced that he will not seek a second term as President of the International Federation he helped establish.

The 53-year-old Dutchman revealed his decision in a letter sent to World Boxing’s National Federations. “I am writing to you personally to confirm that after long and careful deliberations I have made the decision to not seek re-election as the President of World Boxing and will not be standing as a candidate in the forthcoming election at World Boxing’s third annual Congress in November 2025,” he said.

Van der Vorst’s decision follows a loss of confidence at the International Olympic Committee about this ability to lead the fledging organisation as it prepares to organise the boxing tournament at Los Angeles 2028 and dissatisfaction among a number of World Boxing’s National Federations after the signing of a new long-term deal with a Dutch company to manage and monetise its events and commercial rights.