The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has warned Uzbekistan’s Gafur Rakhimov, who remains on a United States Treasury Department sanctions list as "one of Uzbekistan's leading criminals", that his candidacy for President of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) has put boxing's place on the programme in jeopardy.

It has been central to a crisis which has led the IOC to freeze relations with AIBA except at an operational level.

A full rundown of the outcomes of the upcoming AIBA Congress, scheduled to take place in Moscow on November 2 and 3, will be provided to the IOC.

It will be crucial in determining whether boxing maintains its place on the programme at Tokyo 2020 and whether the IOC removes AIBA's recognition as the governing body for amateur boxing.

Speaking to insidethegames here at SPORTELMonaco, Cameroonian-French fighter N'Dam N'Jikam, who first competed at the Olympics at Athens 2004 before becoming one of the few professionals to participate at Rio 2016, claimed the removal of boxing would be a big blow for the sport.

"I think if boxing is not represented at the Olympics, I think it’s a bad situation for the sport," he added.

"It’s the best preparation for the becoming a professional.

"So I think boxing should be represented in the Olympics every time, like all the other sports."

Professional boxers were free to compete at Rio 2016 after a historic motion was passed at an AIBA Extraordinary Congress in June of that year.

Boxing was the last of all the summer or winter sports to make such a decision, meaning there is no longer any ban on professional athletes competing at an Olympic Games.

The move, cited as a key priority by then AIBA President C K Wu, was not universally popular, with possible safety risks due to mismatches between professional and less experienced amateurs one concern.

N’Dam N’Jikam was surprisingly beaten by Brazilian amateur boxer Michel Borges in the first round of the men’s light heavyweight competition.

Even if boxing does maintain its place on the Olympic programme, the 34-year-old has ruled out ever competing again.

"I think it’s a different situation because in amateur you concentrate on three rounds of three minutes and in professional, at the top level, you have 12 rounds of three minutes," he told insidethegames.

"When you go back to three rounds, it’s very difficult.

"It’s a lot of work, it’s a different challenge.

"That’s why I wanted to take this challenge before, but now I know how it is and I don’t want to go back again."

Rakhimov has hinted he may step aside even if he is elected AIBA President should the "issues" with the IOC and the sport's place on the Tokyo 2020 programme continue after next month's Congress.

The current Interim President, favourite to assume the role on a permanent basis, told insidethegames that AIBA and Olympic boxing "are more important than any candidate and that includes me".

Rakhimov, who denies wrongdoing and has attempted to pin the blame on his personal situation on Gulnara Karimova, daughter of the former Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov, promised members that boxing would be "part of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games - as it will be part of Paris 2024 Games, the LA 2028 Games and any future Olympic Games".

He could still be the only candidate for President as challenger Serik Konakbayev was omitted from the elections list by AIBA.

Konakbayev has filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over his exclusion, which he claims was unfair as he filed the nomination forms before the deadline.

The CAS are due to announce a decision on October 30 and Konakbayev has been allowed to resume his campaign until then.

Rakhimov claimed Karimova, jailed on various corruption charges in 2015, and her group of "cronies" were responsible for providing the "false" allegations to the US Treasury Department.

He claimed she had orchestrated a "misinformation campaign against me" and "used the levers of state to harass me".

In July, Rakhimov was removed from a list of alleged criminals who faced arrest if they entered Uzbekistan.