The IBA is a growing organization in boxing that is starting to carry some weight.
They were buoyed when, at their show in Dubai in December, Russian heavyweight Murat Gassiev claimed the WBA regular heavyweight title with a stoppage of Bulgarian veteran Kubrat Pulev.
The IBA has amateur stars, promising pros and, also, IBA Pro events which are not strictly professional nor strictly amateur but the results are uploaded to BoxRec.
The IBA also hosted a show last weekend in St Petersburg, but IBA Pro director general Al Siesta admits that the present situation geopolitically is impacting the IBA’s progress.
“I think it’s geographical,” Siesta told BoxingScene. “You know, when we were in Dubai and Brits have access and Americans have access to our event, Murat Gassiev fought Pulev and it was a big international event and lots of celebrities arrived. So naturally, it will catch attention. But when something’s happening ‘locally,’ I’m talking locally [in] Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and the countries of the ex-Soviet Union, first of all, it’s really hard to get there. And secondly, different languages, different cultures, as you know, and it is a division, subconscious division, the moral division, where it’s hard to pay attention to something that is not in your part of the world. So when we’re coming out to Istanbul, or Dubai, and hopefully one day we’ll come to London and Paris and somewhere in Europe, then we can keep consistency. In the meantime, whilst the world has gone crazy, it’s really difficult to keep up.”
Does Siesta believe the international sanctions placed on Russia in the aftermath of the war with Ukraine has hindered the progress of the IBA?
“[The] IBA is a global, international organization, obviously leadership [is] based in Russia, like I am personally,” Siesta adds. “I circulate amongst three countries, Dubai, which is the Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, [where he is in] London, Southampton, and Moscow at the moment. There was an office in Switzerland and it is still functioning, but I haven’t visited the office yet. It’s paralyzing. I'll be honest with you. It’s paralyzing, not for me, because I’m a British passport holder, but for the athletes from the countries of the ex-Soviet Bloc. I know it's not fashionable to say that ex-Soviet bloc, but that’s such an easy term for people to latch on to. For example, all those 15 republics, and they are big boxing nations, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, and it’s crazy.
“It is difficult. If it would have been peaceful in the world it would have been much easier. But politics really does stand in the way of sports. They say don’t mix sports and politics, but it’s all bogus. Politics intervene into sports daily. So it’s very difficult.”
But the IBA has garnered plenty of headlines, with the likes of Tyson Fury, Terence Crawford, and Artur Beterbiev attending their events.
The president is Umar Kremlev, and a google search reveals close links with Vladimir Putin and a checkered past.
Kremlev clearly is a powerful man, but will his past cause issues with the IBA’s future?
“I’ll tell you something,” Siesta adds. “If you compare Umar Kremlev to any other sporting functioneer, and it’s not because I work with him or he’s leading the organization, God’s honest truth, his closet is very clean compared to others, trust me. First of all, the guy came from a deprived background. He’s a mix of nationality. His mother and father had to work really hard because him being Armenian, entering Russian territory in Moscow in the ‘70s and ‘80s, it was very difficult, because there’s a subconscious prejudice.
“Because we are not Russians fully. You know, people say Georgian, Kazakhstani, Kyrgyzstani, they all say, ‘them Russians.’ That ignorant statement, you know what I’m saying? Anyone comes remotely from the eastern part of the world, they’re all Russians. So, Umar Kremlev had to really fight for his future and nothing was given to that guy. That’s number one. Number two, he’s an avid boxing fan. He boxed himself to a really good standard. He’s been in the ring. He understands how it works. He knows what it’s like to be a fighter. He knows what it's like to be a deprived individual. So that aspiration was really driving him forward when he got the [IBA] leadership. And let me tell you, that guy is super focused. When it comes to focus and achieving his goals, I don’t know any other person like him, honestly. And as a consequence, he’s only 43 and look where he is already.
“So, saying that he’s got baggage depends. There’s nothing bad in his baggage because he’s a leader. He loves sports. He invests in sports. He works with Russian bookmakers. He was the one who organized the bookmaking committee to invest into sports, arts, cinema, and development of the nation, where in the United Kingdom, for example, as a very strong betting country, we know that we've got monsters like Bet365, Betfred and Coral and William Hill. There’s no program like this. They might sponsor your events. They might pay you some money to advertise their services. But there’s no committee. There’s no organisation in the UK which says obligatory funding into arts, sports, cinema, scientific development. Umar Kremlev has done that in Russia.”
As well as the political landscape, boxing politics are forever murky and the waters have rarely been as unclear as they are today. There’s been the recent stand-off between Zuffa and the sanctioning bodies as an example.
Where does the IBA fit into that already convoluted space?
“Boxing is also about legacy,” Siesta says. “Abandoning [sanctioning] bodies that presented so many opportunities… the belts, the mega fights, the history… Look, if you’re driven strictly by business, somehow it might make sense for Dana White and Turki Alaslshikh. He comes from a different combat sport. He loves boxing. He built the UFC. It’s a completely different thing to boxing. UFC, mixed martial arts, never had a hundred years of legacy. It was easier. He had great investment. He went into the Wild West and he organized it and he built a huge brand and then profiteered and built a huge empire, a multi-billion empire. The same aspiration potentially transpired to boxing. That’s his motivation.
“But unfortunately for him, it’s a different story here. If you love boxing, certain things you wouldn’t say and you wouldn’t do because [sanctioning] bodies are like a tradition… I can’t [say] that I’m completely against what Dana White is saying, and Turki Alalshikh, because as a business person, I do understand the business perspective that they have. But as a boxing fan, how can you be without WBC, WBA, IBF, WBO? You thrive to be a champion as a fighter, to win those belts. And Zuffa, they haven’t done anything yet in order to build credibility for their belt. They literally are at the embryo stage in boxing. Listen, if they will show the blueprint how it’s done and it works for everyone, then maybe. But I already hear certain things coming back to geopolitics.
“You know they don’t sign Russian fighters. And I don’t think it’s driven by politics because Dana quickly learned that Dagestan comes in and cleans up. He knows how difficult it is. They don’t speak the language. They don’t do trash talking. They're religious. They’re God-fearing, but they can fight. It’s everything the new system detests. The fighter, the man with the faith, the understanding. So, it’s a big conflict now.”
Zuffa has signed Uzbek Otabek Kholmatov, but he was well-exposed to the US having had a Fight of the Year contender with Raymond Ford and having defeated Andranik Grigorian on US soil.
Siesta also points to comments recently made by MVP’s Nakisa Bidarian that he feels are harmful toward fighters that do not come through the western world.
“Too often you see this mandatory from said country that has no recognition in the most important media markets… the product has to give fans the best possible matchups,” Bidarian wrote on X.
Siesta called it an “idiotic statement.”
“Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Philippines [are] obsessed about boxing more so than United States,” he insists. “They produce champions every year, Olympic champions, amateur fighters. How can you come to our sport and say that? It doesn’t anger me. This is just ignorance. I respect what he's doing. He built the greatest female stable of all times and I love what they’re doing. Listen, but saying something like this is literally, I mean, look, he’s an intelligent individual. I would reserve judgment, but you need to look after your cognitive image if you’re doing things like that, you know?”
Artur Beterbiev was at the IBA event in December and subsequently his promotional deal with Top Rank came to an end.
Asked if they would be involved in his next bout, Siesta says “we are working on it” but adds that the uncertainty around the world makes planning challenging.
Siesta, however, remains upbeat.
“But listen, I’m a massive optimist and a firm believer in power,” he says. “I believe in God and I think good always beats evil. 99 out of 100, you know.”
