Saturday saw AIBA join the Russian Boxing Federation in celebration of its National Day of Boxing in Moscow’s iconic Red Square. A crowd of 3,000 gathered to earn a new Guinness World Record for the number of people practicing boxing at one time, clocking 31 minutes of simultaneous training led by double Olympic Champions Oleg Saitov and Aleksai Tishchenko. The record came 24 hours after 50,000 people in cities across Russia had also come together to celebrate the sport in unison.

“The Russian Boxing Federation has created something great for the promotion of boxing with this World Record and by bringing together so many young people to celebrate our sport. Seeing legendary Olympic Champions encouraging all these people was a special moment, and epitomises the values of the AIBA Family. The impact that this can have on future generations of Russian boxers must not be underestimate, so I congratulate everyone involved in organising this remarkable occasion,” said AIBA President Dr Ching-Kuo Wu.

Another of Russia’s most decorated Olympic boxers, Boris Lagutin, addressed the enthusiastic crowds with words of encouragement as the record attempt got underway. From there, the attention moved to the other end of Red Square where an exhibition of boxing took place into the evening with St Basil’s Cathedral and the Kremlin providing a stunning backdrop.

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