The International Amateur Boxing Association, now the International Boxing Association (IBA), was itself formed in 1946 by England and France to replace the Fédération internationale de boxe amateur (FIBA).

It was decided to scrap FIBA, established shortly after the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, following the behaviour of some of its officials during the Second World War, which it was ruled had brought the organisation into disrepute, and set up a new body which it hoped would not be burdened by its past.

More than three-quarters of a century later, things seem to have come full circle with the IBA suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over governance, finance, refereeing and ethical issues, many of them connected to its Russian President Umar Kremlev, who has a close relationship with Vladimir Putin.

"I think we all know that it's time for a change," USA Boxing President Tyson Lee told reporters on a Zoom call today. "Or at least it's time for another option - an option that prioritises the Olympic Movement."

Boxing's place in the Olympics after Paris 2024 remains uncertain, with the sport not on the initial programme for Los Angeles 2028, pending reforms demanded by the IOC.

Kremlev and the IBA claim that all the reforms asked of them by the IOC have already been completed.

While on the one hand, it is refreshing to see an International Federation leader not blindly follow the orders of the IOC under its President Thomas Bach, Kremlev never seems to miss an opportunity to antagonise those in power at Lausanne.

His decision to allow boxers from Russia and Belarus to compete under their own flag at IBA events, including its World Championships, flying in the face of IOC recommendations, certainly seemed like a foolish move if he was serious about restoring his organisation's position within the Olympic Movement.

In fact, it appeared more designed to earn valuable brownie points with The Kremlin and help consolidate his position within Russia and those who make decisions. A multi-million-dollar sponsorship deal with state-controlled energy giant Gazprom does not come without some strings.

For a long time now, it is clear that Kremlev is not really interested in boxing’s place in the Olympics, and he appears more motivated by running an organisation that will provide a pathway for young boxers from developing countries to reach the top of the sport, eventually establishing a pipeline of talent for the professional game, which is where the really big money is to be made.

But do not think that just by a new governing body being set up it is going to solve all the problems of IBA, which pre-date Kremlev by several decades. They really started in 1986 when Horst Dassler, the former boss of Adidas and a major powerbroker in sport who gave a young Bach his opportunity, engineered the appointment of Pakistan's Anwar Chowdhry as President.

During Chowdhry's 20-year reign, there were frequent disputes about the fairness of judges and the methods of scoring contests. At one point the IOC suspended all grants to the sport until a more equitable system was introduced. No problem or scandal in boxing is really new. 

Kremlev has plenty of enemies within boxing and the IOC, but do not underestimate his powerful grip on the sport, stretching from Africa to Asia to South America to the Pacific and the former Soviet republics. A generous development programme, which thanks to Gazprom, IBA is able to offer, will buy you that kind of loyalty in any sport.

IBA currently has 204 Member Federations, World Boxing has launched with just seven - Germany, Great Britain, the Philippines, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden and the United States. Countries like Australia Canada, France and Ireland, members of the Common Cause Alliance formed last year to campaign to keep boxing in the Olympics, were notable by their absence.

Boris van der Vorst, head of the Common Cause Alliance and President of the Dutch Boxing Federation, has claimed that he expects more countries to announce they are joining World Boxing next month when membership officially opens.

But many smaller countries will struggle to see the benefits of joining. While IBA has its multi-million-dollar sponsorship deal with Gazprom, World Boxing will be operating on a budget of €900,000 (£800,000/$1 million), meaning there will be no generous development grants to be dished out.

Competing in the Olympics is, of course, a draw but will it be big enough of one to leave the IBA, which is also offering record prize money at its World Championships with winners earning $200,000 (£160,000/€180,000)?

World Boxing competitions will "begin in the latter part of 2023 and will be devised in the interests of boxers and cover all levels from juniors to seniors," the new governing body is promising.

"A comprehensive competition calendar is being developed that will feature a series of new tournaments designed to create longevity and appeal to potential broadcast and commercial partners".

How they are going to arrange these tournaments on such a small budget is not explained, nor where they are going to find the referee and judges to officiate at them. It will take a lot of investment and several years for World Boxing to train its own pool of referees and judges capable of officiating at international level.

At the re-arranged 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, 81 countries qualified to take part - which is less than half of the IBA members. Of that number, just one boxer represented a quarter of countries. With fewer boxers than ever due to compete at Paris 2024, many countries may think sacrificing the chance to compete at the Olympics is a price worth paying while Kremlev continues to look after them so generously.

Another reason for any smaller country not to hitch their wagon to World Boxing is buried deep in the statutes about membership.

"Members of World Boxing will have between one and three votes which reflect the contribution of their National Federation to the development and growth of the sport based on clearly defined criteria,” it is stated.

"Having a membership structure with variable voting rights aims to protect the sport and preserve the long-term sustainability of World Boxing by ensuring that those countries which are active in developing boxing have an influence on the future progression of the sport.

"At the same time, it seeks to eliminate practices that would otherwise enable well-funded National Federations or individuals to build blocs of support by offering inducements to those with a limited track record of developing the sport, yet whose vote in a 'one member one vote' system would have the same weight as a country that has had a significant impact on the growth and profile of Olympic boxing."

That is clear reference to how Kremlev has allegedly bought the support of the smaller (and not so small) nations and is designed to put the power back into the hands of countries like the US and Britain in an effort to ensure that one person can never enjoy such control of the sport.

World Boxing have even claimed that countries would be able to hold simultaneous membership of both organisations, which IBA will not tolerate, and they are certain to begin proceedings within the next few days to suspend or expel the "rebel" countries.

It appears we are heading for a massive split within boxing with one organisation representing Europe and North America and the other the rest of the world. This is unchartered territory as we have never before been in a situation where there are rival governing bodies claiming to represent an Olympic sport.

The IOC have made it clear on many occasions that they will not deal with the IBA while it is led by Kremlev. But, while being committed to finding a way to ensure boxing remains on the Olympic programme, it would also struggle to justify recognising a federation that represents only a fraction of the countries who take part in the sport.

World Boxing claim they have not yet been in touch with the IOC, which is either irresponsible or them being economical with the truth, especially as the new organisation’s interim secretary general Simon Toulson worked there for 10 years, including in the sports department.

Toulson was also previously secretary general of the International Canoe Federation and started his career working for Premier League football club Manchester United in its marketing department. Whether helping market "Fred the Red," the club’s anthropomorphic "red devil" mascot, in reference to the club's nickname, The Red Devils, for a decade has prepared Toulson for what is about to come is doubtful.

World Boxing has claimed that it is not in a fight with IBA and does want the situation "to get nasty". The only thing we can probably be certain is that it is about to get very nasty.

What World Boxing needs if it is to win this contest is someone with guts, charisma and an impeccable reputation within the sport to headline it and give it gravitas. Someone like Ukraine’s Wladimir Klitschko, the 1996 Olympic super-heavyweight gold medallist and former world heavyweight champion. I have been told that Klitschko would be up for the challenge of saving boxing at the Olympics.

It is clear that when the bell tolled today it was for the first round of what we can expect to be a very bloody encounter. At this stage, it is still unclear whether at the end of it boxing will have a future in the Olympics.