By Duncan Mackay

Charles Butler head and shouldersJune 25 - Charles Bulter has been re-elected President of USA Boxing and will serve alongside a new Board of Directors, which includes a prominent list of ten community leaders, to lead the organisation as it continues to try to rebuild after a turbulent period in its history.


The new members includes four independent directors, a general membership director as well as affiliated organisation director,

Butler (pictured), a long-term ringside physician and a senior member of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) Executive Board, was re-elected by his peers. 

"I am extremely honoured that my fellow Board members have elected me to serve as the President of this great organisation once again," said Bulter.

"USA Boxing currently sits at a critical juncture and a clear vision is needed to turn this sport around.

"I believe that the talented and diverse group of individuals selected to sit on USA Boxing's Board of Directors possess the experience needed to accomplish this important mission.

"If this Board and membership work closely together we will restore the golden age of boxing in this country."

Among those elected as an independent director is Bill Polian, former President of the NFL Super Bowl winners Indianapolis Colts, and DJ Walton, a music industry veteran who has worked as a tour manager for Britney Spears and Alicia Keys, but whose love of boxing was instilled in him by his great grandfather, who competed in the Golden Gloves in the 1940s.

They are joined by Dick Hoffman, a former navy officer who is now a defence research analyst, and Richard Halpert, one of America's top lawyers.

Bill PolianBill Polian, former President of NFL Super Bowl winners Indianapolis Colts, has joined the Board of USA Boxing as an independent director

USA Boxing is undergoing a major period of transition following a disastrous period within the body in October 2012 when they suspended for three months by AIBA for retaining their hugely controversial former President Hal Adonis on their Board.

Adonis was originally forced to step down as USA Boxing President after suggesting homosexuality was rife in female boxing and all boxers should have suffered child abuse to prosper in the sport.

But he was allowed to retain a seat on the Board in a move that caused the suspension, which was only lifted when Adonis was removed.

The episode came after a disastrous London 2012 Olympic campaign from the United States that saw the strongest Olympic boxing nation in history fail to win a single medal in the men's category and it was only the women that managed to help the country save face with middleweight Claressa Shields claiming gold and flyweight Marlen Esparza bronze.

Mikaela MayerMikaela Mayer, the world's top-ranked light welterweight boxer, has been elected as one of two athletes' representatives by USA Boxing

The two boxers selected by USA Boxing's elite athletes to serve as the athlete representatives were Cam F. Awesome, from Lenexa in Kansas and who represented the US as a heavyweight at the 2011 World Championships, and Mikaela Mayer, from Los Angeles, the the top ranked light welterweight female boxer in the world, who won a bronze medal at last year's World Championships.

Former USA Boxing Board member John Brown, the founder and owner of equipment company Ringside,  was selected by the Nominating and Governance Committee to serve as the general membership director. 

National Golden Gloves executive director James Beasley was selected to serve as the affiliated organisation director.