At the WBA congress in Orlando (USA), two companies of the Russian businessman Andrei Ryabinsky flaunted among the partners of the organization – MIC (construction and sale of real estate) and the World of Boxing.
Therefore, it is not surprising that yesterday the WBA officially decided to return boxers from Russia and Belarus to their ratings, which they (selectively) excluded in March after the Russian army attacked independent Ukraine.
The WBA commented on their decision: “Athletes from this country are not soldiers and not the government. So they are not responsible for the war in Ukraine. Separately, it was decided that any athlete who supports the war or takes part in it will be immediately excluded from the ratings.
The athletes from this country are not soldiers or part of the government, so they have nothing to do with the war against Ukraine. However, it was determined that any fighter who speaks out in favor of the war or is involved in it will be removed immediately.
— WBA Boxing (@WBABoxing) December 13, 2022
The WBA has traditionally ignored the fact that almost all the most famous Russian boxers (who have already completed their careers) unanimously supported the occupation of Ukraine and do not see anything terrible in acts of genocide against civilians.
Among them are Alexander Povetkin, Denis Lebedev, Grigory Drozd, Ruslan Provodnikov, Dmitry Pirog and others.
Most of these boxers previously competed for Ryabinsky World of Boxing.
In May, the legendary Wladimir Klitschko promised that “if a Russian goes to battle under the flag of Russia and under the Russian anthem, then Wladimir will publicly dip this world champion belt in a bucket of blood.”