Professional boxers will be able to compete in this summer’s Rio Olympics.
Boxing’s world governing body, the AIBA, has voted in favour of changing the qualifying criteria for the Olympics, meaning pros will be able to compete for the first time ever.
It means amateurs could now face experienced boxing professionals, provided they go through the qualification process and are selected by their countries.
84 out of 88 members of the International Boxing Association voted in favour of the rule change, with the other four members abstaining from the vote.
Many are against the move, including former World Champion Mike Tyson and Carl Frampton.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pros boxers being allowed to fight in Olympics is ridiculous! They're two different sports. It's like a badminton player playing tennis</p>— Carl Frampton MBE (@RealCFrampton) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealCFrampton/status/737934645103333376">June 1, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Also when and how do they Qualify for Rio? It starts in about 10 weeks. AIBA have got worse since I was an amateur and thats hard to believe</p>— Carl Frampton MBE (@RealCFrampton) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealCFrampton/status/737935307341991936">June 1, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">What about the amateurs who've been dreaming of the Olympics for years, have yet to Qualify & some pro takes their spot at the last minute?</p>— Carl Frampton MBE (@RealCFrampton) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealCFrampton/status/737944877342822401">June 1, 2016</a></blockquote>
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The final qualifying tournament for the Olympics will take place in Venezuela in July.
Seven Irish boxers have already qualified for this summer’s tournament.
