On Sunday, 23 November, during the World Boxing Congress, the Latvian Boxing Association (LBA) was admitted as a member of this international organisation.
“LBA’s admission to World Boxing is a very significant milestone. I hope that with this step, the transformation process of Latvian boxing can be considered complete. At the beginning of 2025, Latvia still had two competing federations that were not recognised by the state. During this period, we managed to unite, obtain the status of a state-recognised federation, and fully return to the Latvian Olympic Committee. LBA’s admission into World Boxing symbolically marks the conclusion of this transformation.
I want to express my sincere gratitude to my colleagues on the LBA Board for their teamwork and shared strategic vision, as well as to all LBA members for their understanding, patience, and support throughout this challenging process. We must continue to work and develop, maintaining a clear vision of LBA’s core goals and a constructive approach to achieving them,” says Gatis Gudermanis, President of the Latvian Boxing Association.
World Boxing is an international boxing organisation founded on 13 April 2023 with the aim of ensuring transparent, athlete-focused and internationally recognised governance of amateur boxing. The organisation is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. Its main mission is to secure a stable, independent future for Olympic boxing, aligned with high standards of ethics, fair play and safety.
World Boxing currently unites 136 national federations. On 26 February 2025, the International Olympic Committee granted the organisation provisional recognition as the global governing body for boxing — an important step toward the full restoration of Olympic status. World Boxing continues to work actively on strengthening governance, developing competition systems, harmonising international rules, and improving anti-doping and sports ethics policies. The organisation maintains official amateur world rankings and provides a transparent competition calendar to help athletes and federations plan participation in high-level tournaments.
On 4 April 2025, Gatis Gudermanis was elected President of the Latvian Boxing Association, with Māris Martinsons and Ansis Pūce elected as Vice Presidents. Board members elected were Aivars Zeltiņš, Aivis Tints, Andris Morozovs and Zane Drozda. On 23 July 2025, at the LBA General Assembly, Ņikita Versockis was elected as the new Secretary General; as of 15 August 2025, he also serves as a Board Member.
The Latvian Boxing Association was founded with the aim of supporting and developing boxing in Latvia. It promotes boxing both as a popular sport for self-defence and physical fitness, and as a high-performance discipline with participation in European and World Championships, as well as the Olympic Games. The Association encourages children and young people to engage in boxing, organises competitions, and represents Latvian boxing internationally, working purposefully toward the development of a sustainable and professional boxing environment.
(Translated using artificial intellect tool)
