Abbreviation | SABF |
---|---|
Formation | 1980 |
Purpose | National boxing governing body |
Headquarters | Riyadh |
Region served | Saudi Arabia |
President | Abdullah Ahmed Eid Al-Harbi |
Website | sabf.sa |
The Saudi Arabian Boxing Federation (SABF), also known as the Saudi Boxing Federation is the governing body of amateur boxing in Saudi Arabia, established in 1980. [1]
In 1980, the Ministry of Sport of Saudi Arabia formed a national commission to monitor amateur boxing and regulate the sport in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The federation oversees amateur boxing in both the men's and women's categories. Headquartered in Riyadh, it hosts amateur boxing matches, organizes training initiatives, and partners with international boxing bodies to enhance the sport's visibility in Saudi Arabia. [2]
The national federation is a member of the International Boxing Association (IBA). [3]
In April 2024, the Saudi Boxing Federation entered into a partnership with Ready to Fight, a pioneering boxing social platform co-founded by Oleksandr Usyk. The agreement is based on discovering new talent and involving leading boxing professionals in the Federation's initiatives. [2]
Cruiserweight, also referred to as junior heavyweight, is a weight class in professional boxing between light heavyweight and heavyweight. Before the advent of the current cruiserweight class, "light heavyweight" and "cruiserweight" were sometimes used interchangeably in the United Kingdom.
Chazz Witherspoon is an American former professional boxer. The second cousin of former boxing champion Tim Witherspoon, he emerged as a talented boxer in the 2000s. He won the 2004 National Golden Gloves finals in Kansas City, Missouri, and by collecting all wins via stoppage, he became the first man in the history of the Golden Gloves to win the National Title by all stoppages.
The International Boxing Association (IBA), previously known as the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur (AIBA), is a sports organization that sanctions amateur and professional boxing matches, and awards world and subordinate championships. However, it is permanently banned from the Olympic Games, has no connection to the Olympics and its role as a sanctioning body is not recognized by the International Olympic Committee. It has been described as Russian-dominated and Kremlin-backed. IBA consists of five continental confederations: AFBC, AMBC, ASBC, EUBC, and OCBC. The association includes officially 198 national boxing federations, a number actually debatable since the creation of the rival organisation World Boxing. It is led by Umar Kremlev, an ally of Vladimir Putin.
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USA Boxing is the national governing body for Olympic-style boxing. It is overseen by the United States Olympic Committee and World Boxing, which sets its rules.
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King Abdullah Sports City, also nicknamed The Shining Jewel or simply The Jewel, is a multi-use stadium and sports city located 30 kilometers north of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The city was named after Abdullah, King of Saudi Arabia when the stadium opened.
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Jai Opetaia is an Australian professional boxer. He held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) title from 2022 until 2023. He currently holds the Ring magazine and lineal cruiserweight titles. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal at the 2012 Youth World Championships and represented Australia at the 2012 Olympics and 2014 Commonwealth Games. As of February 2023, Opetaia is ranked the world's best active cruiserweight by The Ring magazine, and the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, second by BoxRec, and third best by ESPN.
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Murat Georgievich Gassiev is a Russian former unified cruiserweight world champion, having held the IBF title from 2016 to 2018, and the WBA (Unified) title in 2018. As of October 2021, he is ranked as the world's ninth-best active heavyweight by BoxRec.
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Einar Otto Wallin is a Swedish professional boxer. He held the World Boxing Association (WBA) Continental heavyweight title in 2017, the European Union heavyweight title in 2018, and the WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight title in 2023. As of March 2024, Wallin is ranked #8 by the IBF.
Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua is a proposed heavyweight professional boxing superfight contested between former WBC champion, Tyson Fury, and former WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO champion, Anthony Joshua. The fight has been dubbed as the "Biggest fight in British boxing history" and "The Battle of Britain". As of July 2024, no agreement has been reached which secured a fight between the two heavyweights.
Anthony Joshua vs Oleksandr Usyk, billed as The Perfect Storm, was a professional boxing match that was contested between WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua, and former undisputed cruiserweight champion and the WBO's heavyweight mandatory challenger, Oleksandr Usyk. The bout took place on 25 September 2021 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Usyk winning by unanimous decision.
Riyadh Season is a series of entertainment, cultural, and sporting events held in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh. The event was introduced in 2019 by the General Entertainment Authority as part of the larger Saudi Seasons initiative in support of Saudi Vision 2030.
Oleksandr Usyk vs Anthony Joshua II, billed as Rage on the Red Sea, was a heavyweight professional boxing match between WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight champion, Oleksandr Usyk, and former heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua. The bout took place on 20 August 2022 at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Usyk won the 12-round bout by split decision, with scores of 116–112 and 115–113 in his favour, and 115–113 in favour of Joshua.
The Day of Reckoning, was the billing of a professional boxing event. While the fight card consists of eight fights, two heavyweight fights serve as co-main events. The first, Anthony Joshua vs Otto Wallin was contested between English former WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and Swedish WBA inter-continental heavyweight champion Otto Wallin. The second, Deontay Wilder vs Joseph Parker, was contested between American former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and New Zealand IBF and WBO inter-continental heavyweight champion Joseph Parker.
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