Unlimited contingent: what you need to know about the upcoming Boxing World Cup

The 2025 IBA Men's World Boxing Championships will be held in Dubai from December 2 to 13. The tournament is considered the central event of the two-week Boxing Festival, which brought together the best athletes from all over the world to compete for the title of champion. Our team will compete for record prizes in the UAE under the national flag and with the national anthem. The tournament will be held under the auspices of the International Boxing Association (IBA). The organization refused to follow the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on the issue of depriving athletes from Russia and Belarus of national identification, boxers from both countries perform at its tournaments without any restrictions.

Two organizations

World Boxing was established in April 2023 as an alternative to the International Boxing Association (IBA) in order to preserve the sport in the Olympic movement. IVA was deprived of the right to qualify for the 2020 Games and the Tokyo competitions themselves due to the financial and managerial crisis in the organization. Since 2020, the IBA has been headed by Umar Kremlev, who previously led the Russian Boxing Federation. He seemed to have put things in order quickly enough. Impressive prize money has appeared at the World Championships.

However, in June 2023, the IOC stripped the association of its recognized status. This was explained by the same "financial and managerial crisis." In fact, IVA refused to follow the recommendations of the head of the IOC, Thomas Bach, regarding the admission of Russians and Belarusians to tournaments, and after that she openly began to clash with the German.

At the end of 2024, the Kremlin declared that World Boxing was not legitimate and had no support. Indeed, the IOC almost forced the national federations to join the new organization. In September 2025, the World Boxing Championship was held for the first time in Liverpool. Athletes from 68 countries took part there.

120 countries will participate in the IBA 2025 World Cup, and the tournament itself will be held in the capital of the UAE.

"The World Men's Boxing Championship in Dubai is not just a tournament,— IBA President Umar Kremlev told Izvestia. — This is the main stage of our Golden Era, the moment when the whole world will see how boxing flourishes in a new form — modern, powerful, fair. Dubai was chosen due to its status as one of the fastest growing megacities in the world with first-class sports infrastructure and experience in hosting international events.

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The rivals from the USA and Cameroon decided to give up for medical reasons.

Favorites and competitors

Our athletes will be represented in all 13 weight categories: Edmond Khudoyan (up to 48 kg), Bair Batlaev (up to 51 kg), Vyacheslav Rogozin (up to 54 kg), Andrey Peglivanyan (up to 57 kg), Vsevolod Shumkov (up to 60 kg), Ilya Popov (up to 63.5 kg), Evgeny Kohl (up to 67 kg), Sergey Koldenkov (up to 71 kg), Ismail Mutsolgov (up to 75 kg), Dzhambulat Bizhamov (up to 80 kg), Sharabutdin Ataev (up to 86 kg), Muslim Gadzhimagomedov (up to 92 kg), David Surov (over 92 kg).

The Russian national team is traditionally considered as one of the favorites of the upcoming championship. Strong positions are held in the middleweight and heavyweight divisions, where the most experienced fighters will compete — Muslim Gadzhimagomedov and Sharabutdin Atayev. In the light categories, Peglivanyan, Shumkov and Popov, young but already decorated athletes who are able to compete for medals of the highest dignity, attract attention.

The coaching staff notes that the preparations for the championship were based on the specifics of the Dubai tournament — high humidity, a busy schedule of fights and changed logistics. The team went through training camps in conditions as close as possible to the climate of the UAE, and is now in the final stage of the training cycle.

Our main competitors are athletes from Uzbekistan, Cuba, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, China, Taiwan, Algeria.

The 2025 IBA Men's World Boxing Championships has become a record in terms of prize money. Its total prize pool will be $8.32 million.

"The winners will receive $300,000, the silver medalists will receive $150,000, and each bronze medalist will receive $75,000," Umar Kremlev continued. — We will also reward the quarterfinalists with $10,000 each in each of the 13 weight categories. We have increased the prize money to create new opportunities for our athletes and take amateur boxing to another level. This approach motivates young athletes and helps them retain their talents in Olympic boxing.

According to the distribution, each award is divided between the boxer, his coach and the national federation: 50% to the athlete, 25% to the coach, 25% to the federation.

— Today, the most important thing for us is the athlete in the ring, — Umar Kremlev is sure. — Every boxer, every coach, every national federation feels that their work is respected, that they are not alone. The IBA is a large international boxing family that unites all those who believe in our sport, share our values, and celebrate justice and fortitude. The golden era of boxing is in full swing. It started when we returned boxing to its soul, when the IBA once again became an organization that protects athletes rather than exploits them. We have changed the very philosophy of the sport.

The relaunch of the IBA World Championship with national teams and flags will highlight the international sporting status of the tournament and provide an opportunity to see which countries will retain leadership on the world boxing scene, Kremlev believes. We remind you that our boxers were not allowed to participate in the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

It is also worth noting that a professional boxing tournament will be held as part of the World Cup. IBA.PRO 13, the main event of which will be the fight for the WBA heavyweight title Murat Gassiev – Kubrat Pulev, and the evening's program will include four more title fights (Bahodur Usmonov, Shakhobiddin Zoirov, Khariton Agrba, Vadim Musaev will fight for belts).