Four years have gone by, but the World Boxing Council (WBC) remains firm in its original stance on pro boxers participating in the Olympics—steadfastly against it.
The 2016 Rio Olympics ushered in the first-ever class of pro boxers taking part in what was always meant to be the highest stage for amateur combatants. Former titlists Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam and Amnat Ruenroeng were repeat Olympians, while Italy’s Carmine Tommasone suspended his 15-0 pro career at the time to represent Italy as a first-time participant.
N’Dam advanced to the quarterfinal round of the 2004 Athens Olympics and Ruenroeng reaching that point in 2008 Beijing, with both going on to capture major titles in the pro ranks. Both were bounced from 2016 Rio early, N’Dam in the round of 16—as was Tommasone—while Ruenroeng was eliminated in the opening round of competition.
All three also shared another common bond—being banned from any WBC-sanctioned bout for two years.
The Mexico City-based sanctioning body doubled down on its stance in the wake of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics rapidly approaching.
“Unfortunately, the rules imposed by AIBA have been maintained for Tokyo 2020, including the acceptance of professional boxers to compete during the Olympic Games,” Mauricio Sulaiman, president of the WBC declared in a statement on Wednesday. “The World Boxing Council (WBC) has adamantly opposed this measure since 2013, when AIBA modified the regulation and took this step that is absolutely and totally rejected by the majority of the members of the boxing community worldwide.
“Boxing is not a game, it is a contact sport. Any professional boxer has the right to participate; It is in the competition rules that govern the Tokyo Olympic Games , but it goes directly against the basic safety principles of our sport. The position of our organization has been crystal clear since the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. No WBC champion nor any boxer ranked in The WBC ratings is to compete in amateur boxing.”
All three aforementioned boxers returned to the pro ranks shortly after the conclusion of 2016, though none competing in any WBC-sanctioned contest until 2018.
N’Dam (37-5, 21KOs) managed to claim a secondary version of the World Boxing Association (WBA) middleweight title in a controversial decision win over Ryota Murata—himself a 2012 Olympic Gold medalist—in 2017 before conceding the title in their rematch just five months later. N’Dam would go on to unsuccessfully challenge for the super middleweight title, suffeting a 2nd round knockout at the hands of Callum Smith in their bout last June which came with the WBA “Super” 168-pound title at stake along with the WBC “Diamond” belt.
Ruenroeng (20-3, 6KOs)—who suffered a flyweight title-conceding knockout loss to Johnriel Casimero prior to his 2016 Olympic run—is just 3-2 in his post-Olympic run, including a knockout loss in a WBC regional title fight in 2018 before picking up two confidence-building wins in 2019.
Tommasone (20-1, 5KOs) has won five of six since returning from Rio. The lone loss came in a one-sided 7th round stoppage to then-unbeaten featherweight titlist Oscar Valdez last February.
The past has not at all spooked the future prospects of several pros considering a 2020 Tokyo run. Already verbally declaring their intentions to compete are Belgium’s Delfine Persoon (44-2, 18KOs)—a former lightweight titlist who made nine defenses of the WBC title before losing a narrow 10-round decision to Katie Taylor in their undisputed championship clash last June—and 2016 Olympic Bronze medalist Filip Hrgovic (10-0, 8KOs), an unbeaten heavyweight prospect from Croatia who currently owns a WBC regional title.
Should both prove successful in making their way to Tokyo, it will come at the expense of temporarily severing ties with the WBC
“It is [still] a two-year ban from WBC,” Sulaiman confirmed to BoxingScene.com. “We don’t interfere with any other organization. We simply can’t accept in the WBC a fighter who does not share the sacred principles of safety.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox