GB Boxing’s Chief Executive Matt Holt elected as a Vice President of World Boxing

The Chief Executive of GB Boxing, Matt Holt, has been elected as a Vice President of World Boxing at its inaugural Congress in Frankfurt am Main.

His candidacy was supported by 69 per cent of the voting members and he will serve on the Executive Board of World Boxing as one of three Vice Presidents alongside the President of Boxing Canada, Ryan O’Shea, and the Chief Executive of Boxing Australia, Dinah Glykidis.

Holt was one of the co-founders of World Boxing in December 2022.  He played an integral role in the public launch of the organisation in April 2023 and had served on its Interim Executive Board up until the Congress.

Speaking after the elections, Holt said: “GB Boxing has played a leading role in establishing World Boxing and it is good to see that this has been acknowledged by the membership in supporting my candidacy for the role of Vice-President.

“World Boxing has made great progress in its first few months and I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Executive Board and our member National Federations to help the organisation deliver our priorities and create a better future for the sport.”

Holt has more than 20 years’ experience in sports leadership, including a highly successful decade as the Chief Executive of GB Boxing, when male and female boxers from Great Britain have won 14 medals at three Olympic Games.

As one of the co-founders of World Boxing, Holt and GB Boxing have been instrumental in helping to establish it as a credible international federation which is committed to the delivery of five key priorities:

• Keep boxing at the heart of the Olympic movement
• Ensure the interests of boxers are put first
• Deliver sporting integrity and fair competitions
• Create a competition structure designed in the best interests of the boxers
• Operate according to strong governance standards and transparent financial management

The Vice-Presidential election was one of a series of votes at last weekend’s Congress which covered a range of positions including the office of President, places on the World Boxing Executive Board and the Chairs of the Sport and Competition Committee, the Medical and Anti-Doping Committee and the Finance and Audit Committee.

Boris van der Vorst from the Dutch Boxing Federation won the Presidential election with a 63 per cent share in a two-person run-off against Elise Seignolle from USA Boxing.

The four candidates elected to the Executive Board were: Michael Muller from Germany, Victorico Vargas from the Philippines, Sweden’s Susanne Karrlander and Marcos Candido de Brito of Brazil.

In the election to chair World Boxing Committees, Hernan Salvo of Argentina secured the role as Chair of Sport and Competition Committee and Dr Armando Sanchez from the USA won the vote to Chair the Medical and Anti-Doping Committee.  Julia Felton from Australia will Chair the Finance and Audit Committee.

The 11 winners of the Congress elections will form a 14-person Executive Board, along with the two Athlete Representatives, Lauren Price and Richard Torrez Jr, and the Secretary General, Simon Toulson.

A full list of the people elected to office is below:

World Boxing was launched in April 2023 and aims to ensure that boxing remains at the heart of the Olympic movement. It will seek recognition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and plans to work constructively and collaboratively to develop a pathway that will preserve boxing’s ongoing place on the Olympic competition programme at Los Angeles 2028 and beyond.

Further information on World Boxing is available at www.worldboxing.org.