Eddie Hearn has a lot of great boxers in his stable, but he may have been able to sign potentially the biggest star. Cuban Andy Cruz, Olympic champion and three-time world champion in Olympic boxing, will join the ranks of Matchroom Boxing and further enhance the prestige of the already very strong lightweight.
Sad news came from France. At the age of 22, Wilfried Florentin (3-0, 3 KOs), the 2019 European champion among juniors in the weight category up to 91 kg, died. Florentin worked as a security guard in a nightclub. On Sunday morning, a fight broke out on his shift. At some point, someone pulled out a gun and shot the boxer twice in the chest. After several hours of fighting for his life in one of the hospitals in Paris, doctors pronounced him dead.
On Wednesday, USA Boxing, the country's governing body for Olympic boxing, released a letter announcing that the organization has ceased its membership in the International Boxing Association (IBA) and plans to join the newly formed World Boxing International Boxing Federation. (World Boxing), which was launched two weeks ago.
The Boxing Federations of Great Britain and the United States have created a new amateur boxing organization called World Boxing. They were forced to take such a step after the conflict between the IBA (International Boxing Association) and the International Olympic Committee, which threatened the presence of boxing at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
The leadership of the Polish Boxing Association (PZB) joined the boycott of the world championships among women in March and men in May. The fact that representatives of the Polish national teams will not participate in the world championships this year was confirmed by Maciej Demel, vice president of PZB. The decision was made in response to the restoration of the rights of Russian and Belarusian boxers by the IBA and permission to compete under their own flags and anthems.
Americans, Irish, Czechs, and now the British have joined the coalition of countries boycotting the IBA and the Russian Umar Kremlev. The Americans, the Irish and the Czechs announced a boycott of the men's and women's world championships. The British have so far announced the withdrawal of their participants from the March championship in India, but a similar decision regarding men, whose competitions are scheduled for May, is probably also a foregone conclusion.
The Czech national boxing team followed the example of the Americans and the Irish by deciding to boycott the amateur world championships, both among men and women, under the auspices of the International Boxing Association (IBA). Earlier, the IBA allowed Russians and Belarusians to take part in competitions and perform under their own flags and anthems.
Ireland is following in the footsteps of the US team. Earlier, the Americans, and now the Irish, have announced a boycott of the men's and women's world championships in Olympic boxing, which is held by the International Boxing Association (IBA), sponsored by the Russian Gazprom, respectively, and the Russian Umar Kremlev remains the director.
Moses "Enrico" Ithauma has signed a long-term promotional deal with Frank Warren's Queensberry and is making his professional ring debut at BT Sport. The promising heavyweight has just turned 18. Last month in Spain, he won gold for England at the World Youth Championship. Warren's older brother, Karol, champion of the Youth Olympic Games, is already on Warren's contract.
British Pat McCormack signed a promotional contract with Eddie Hearn's Matchroom and will perform on DAZN. The silver medalist of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in the weight category up to 69 kg as part of the UK team has already added a 2-0 record (2 knockouts) to the pro ring.
