IBA continues to provide development opportunities for the officials in the professional space in close consultation with the World Boxing Association (WBA)
September 10th, 2024 / IBA Courses
The memorable International Boxing Day celebration in Cuba 2024 was highlighted by a professional boxing certification course delivered by the International Boxing Association (IBA) and World Boxing Association (WBA) lead instructors. The course marked a new milestone in cooperation between the two organizations, which will be pivotal for future joint projects in the area of professional boxing.
The bilingual English-Spanish course was aimed at elevating standards and broadening those educational elements of IBA officials who are currently actively involved in the IBA Champions’ Night events across the globe. The program for the course was conjointly delivered by both IBA and WBA lead Instructors that provided all with key definitive practical and comprehensive knowledge of the rules by both organizations.
This “in-tandem” work shared those technical and competition regulations applied in the ring at WBA events and IBA Champions’ Night events respectively, providing all with a better understanding of the professional style of boxing officiating and specific needs and requirements for both areas of competition.
The certification course consisted of two essential parts and was conducted by both the lead WBA instructor Janny Guzman and the IBA senior instructor Mark Williams. The former summarised the WBA rules that are approved at the professional level and shared his first-hand experience with the IBA officials. The latter singled out the differences between two organizations, and highlighted those norms inherited from the professional space and are being currently used at the IBA Champions’ Night events.
The lectures were followed by active discussion among the participants that also brought into play their final assessment with selected video materials and practical simulation exercises.
‘We see a lot of value in such joint courses,’ IBA Secretary General and CEO Chris Roberts OBE said. ‘As we are paving the way for high-end professional boxing within the IBA, we need external expertise from those leading sports organizations, such as WBA. We believe that this invaluable experience will be crucial to elevate the standard of officiating at our Champions’ Nights and beyond. We believe in Continuous Professional Development and see positive results from our efforts in this area.’
