About IABF

Dear Members of the Indian Boxing Community,
With great humility and a deep sense of honor, I address you today as the newly elected
President of the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF).

Boxing has been a powerful force in shaping discipline, courage, and national pride across generations of Indian youth. As I take on this responsibility, I do so with a firm commitment to strengthening every corner of our sport—from grassroots to the global arena.

My vision for the IABF is clear:

• To make Indian amateur boxing more accessible, structured, and transparent.

• To nurture raw talent across all regions and ensure that no deserving boxer is left behind.

• To improve infrastructure, empower our coaches, and ensure that every athlete has the resources they need to succeed.

• To uphold fairness, merit, and discipline as the core values of our federation.

I am not here to make promises—I am here to work. With the support of our state associations, coaches, athletes, and well-wishers, I am confident that we will usher in a new era of accountability, opportunity, and achievement in Indian boxing.

Let us work together, shoulder to shoulder, to make the Indian tricolor rise higher in every ring around the world.

With sincere gratitude,

Dr. Rakesh Mishra,
President, Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF)

Dear Friends,
It is my sincere honour to have been elected as the Secretary General for the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation and it will be an absolute privilege to serve the organisation once again. I would like to warmly welcome everyone and all the members belonging to the National Associations to our official website.

Boxing has seen a growth of multitude proportions in the country over the last decade, largely due to the kind of the talent that India has produced along with the able support of the federation in administering the talent through, and towards the right channels. Since its inception, the boxing federation has sought to identify and recognize the finest athletes from across the country and provide them with the necessary training and exposure required to perform at the global level of the sport. We intend to carry on providing a similar support structure to our athletes disseminating the principles of integrity, transparency, dexterity and operate as a professional governing body.
Indian boxers have shown tremendous determination and skill in the domestic and international circuit. The performances of our athletes over the past few years have put Indian boxing on the world map. The qualification of a record eight boxers (7 men and 1 woman) for the 2012 London Olympics was an achievement in itself. I would like to extend my heartiest congratulations to MC Mary Kom for her continued performances at the highest levels of the sport. She has carved her name in golden letters becoming the first Indian Women boxer to win an Olympic medal. We now have to carry forward the momentum acquired by past efforts and build on all the hard work that has helped us reach this juncture.

I would also like to express my sincere appreciation for the exceptional work my predecessor has done for boxing and the federation and I intend to consistently persevere on the same path to see India further solidify its stature in the boxing world.
As we all know, boxing is a contact sport and highly competitive. But any sport, apart from being a competitive physical activity, is also aimed to express, maintain or improve physical fitness and performance, as well as one’s mental well-being. In this context, our work also has to address the protection of our athletes' health so that they are able to sustain the rigours of training and competition. Another issue top in our priority list is the fight against doping in sport.
Another important factor that I would like to concentrate on is the updating our bank of coaches with the latest training techniques. We will emphasize on commissioning trainers, coaches and RJs (Referee & Judge) for Olympic Solidarity courses, AIBA coaching seminars and other valuable programmes which will solidify our training base. As boxing gains in popularity we have to be able to support and provide proper guidance to the fresh talent that takes up the sport. Onus will also be on spotting and scouting talent and taking the game to the grass root level.
All the progress that we have seen in Indian boxing would not be possible without the generous and continued support of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India and especially our sponsors the Monnet Group and the Sahara India Pariwar who I am sincerely grateful for being associated with boxing and I look forward to sharing a long and fruitful journey with them.
Mr Rakesh Thakran
Secretary General ( Indian Amateur Boxing Federation)