CHICAGO, Oct 23: The International Boxing Association hopes to launch its own world league of boxing as early as next year and bring amateurs and professional fighters under one organization.

On the eve of the World Boxing Championships, delegates to the AIBA congress on Tuesday endorsed a long list of recommended reforms, including one to create the boxing league.

“They said, ‘AIBA, go make this happen if you can,’” USA Boxing chairman Tom Virgets said.

It’s all part of sweeping changes to clean up and solidify the sport under new AIBA president Ching-Kuo Wu of Taiwan, who ousted longtime head Anwar Chowdhry of Pakistan in last year’s election.

“It’s a first step for amateur boxers and professional boxers to be managed under the same umbrella,” AIBA vice president Humbert Furgoni of France told the members Monday.

“We are producing the best boxers from the Olympic games and the World Championships, but we want to protect that because after they got their medals, what was the next step? Not just to be taken by the professional promoters,” Wu said following Monday’s four-hour meeting.

“We want them fully protected to develop their career. Once we have our own league, the federations and the boxers will be fully protected. And this is the reason we want to set it up.”

Wu said he hoped to announce the league by the Beijing Olympics next year.

“We are talking about an investment of close to $200 million to $300 million (euro141 million-euro212 million) that is going to have to be found to make this happen,” Virgets said.

“I believe there are so many people who want to see it happen, that it’s going to. ... Promoters who have given absolutely nothing to the sport, no contribution whatsoever, have come in and reached into our talent and just exploited that top talent and took it away and used it for personal gain.

“What AIBA is saying is we’re going to start our own league and we’re going to start developing our own boxing internationally to move them in a direction whereby we can keep them in the program longer, see to it they get financially rewarded and we can keep some integrity in this game.”

The balance will be a challenge, Virgets said. “How do you maintain the quality of the amateur program that is the fundamental program, the foundation? The professional side is the icing.”

Other recommended competition reforms would wipe out age limits for referees and reward them for good work.—AP