Meanwhile, at the back of the conference hall, the small group of Western countries that make up the Common Cause Alliance (CCA) filed out in silence. If this event had taken place in the boxing ring, both eyes would have been blackened and they would have been on a stretcher. Such was the scale of their defeat.

A total of 106 countries - or 74.65 per cent - had said "no" to the question, "Do you want to vote for another Presidential election or not?". Only 36 nations - 25.35 per cent - had pressed "yes" on their electronic voting pads.

Three-quarters backing was a resounding vote of confidence in Russia's Umar Kremlev, who had won a four-year term as IBA President in Istanbul in May at the first Extraordinary Congress of the year. There, he had been elected by acclamation after his only rival, Boris van der Vorst, had been declared ineligible on the eve of the vote by the Independent Boxing Integrity Unit (IIBU).

Van der Vorst, a suave well-dressed Dutch businessman, was ruled by the IIBU to have been a member of another international boxing organisation as a signatory to a letter sent by the CCA, an informal group dedicated to keeping boxing on the Olympic programme. 

The reason seemed spurious at the time and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) agreed. In June, CAS ruled that it should not have been enough to have stopped him from taking part in the election.

Most people believed that would lead to IBA re-opening the election process, which they sort of did, but not really. Instead, they slipped an item onto the short agenda after the opening speeches, roll call and approval of the minutes from Istanbul, which gave the National Federations an opportunity to vote first for whether they thought the election should even be re-staged.

It was a booby trap missed by most people outside the sport. "The election which may decide the future of boxing in the Olympics is 'too close to call', according to sources close to the contest for the International Boxing Association presidency," one newspaper wrote last week.

Probably the only person who thought it was "too close to call" was van der Vorst. It was clear to anyone who followed this process closely that Kremlev enjoys support bordering on fanaticism.

A total of 27 countries - either in the room here in Armenia’s capital or attending online - spoke before voting opened for the motion about whether to hold another election. It was clear after about the eighth country that this contest should be stopped, such was the pummelling that Kremlev was giving van der Vorst. From Malawi to Saudi Arabia, Sudan to St Lucia, they took to their feet or spoke into their screens to offer their unconditional support to Kremlev.

After the initial flurry of punches thrown by van der Vorst’s supporters, from the likes of Australia, New Zealand, England and Sweden, the only blow he managed to land in the later stages came from French Boxing Federation President Dominique Nato, who, with a surname like that, was never likely to be an ally of a Russian. "I am afraid that we are becoming a laughingstock to the world," he said.

Presuming he is still head of his National Federation in less than two years, then Nato may well be welcoming boxers to Paris 2024 for the last Olympic boxing tournament for a long time. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) wasted little time following this Congress to fire off a press release expressing concern by the "fact that there was no election, but only a vote not to hold an election".

Van der Vorst may also be asking CAS whether they believe the judgement they had handed down following his appeal had been properly applied. Even in the unlikely event, that the Lausanne-based Court demand a proper election is held, do not expect any different outcome. Against an opponent as strong as Kremlev, van der Vorst does not even have a puncher's chance. 

The thing most people did not understand is why did Kremlev not ensure that this Extraordinary Congress went straight to a vote for President, without the addition of giving Federations, angry at the perceived interference of the IOC, the opportunity to torpedo it? It is clear that if there had been a vote either here - or in Istanbul four months ago - then Kremlev would have won easily.

USA Boxing had earlier this month filed an appeal with the IIBU that alleged Kremlev associates had run a dirty tricks campaign against van der Vorst, begging the question of, why? The Dutch Boxing Federation President posed no threat to him, which he must have known.

But there is no denying the fact that van der Vorst has now twice been denied the chance to stand for President, valuable ammunition for the IOC and Kremlev’s critics.

Kremlev is a boxing man steeped in the sport and everything that goes with it. He loves the fighters involved in it, the sense of camaraderie they share, the passion, the drama, the spectacle of it. He is a big fan of boxing and boxers. 

Kremlev has mostly kept his election pledges, including clearing IBA’s multi-million-dollar debts, investing in boxing around the world and taking important steps to clean up referee and judging, which for so long has bedevilled Olympic boxing.

Perhaps, just as importantly, there is a confidence that he is in boxing for what he can put back into it, not what he can take out. For a sport that has not had a President unstained by corruption since Don Hull, a United States World War Two veteran, whose reign ended in 1986, that is something to embrace closely.

The IOC still have to adequately explain why they refuse to accept a Kremlev-led IBA. It cannot simply be that he is Russian because he was first elected 14 months before Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.

Nor can it be that Kremlev is close enough to Putin to have persuaded him two weeks ago to officially open the International Boxing Centre in Moscow. It was not perhaps the smartest move in the present political climate but Thomas Bach spent the first two years after he was elected IOC President in 2013 never missing the opportunity for a photograph alongside Putin, even as he was preparing to invade Crimea.

It has been rumoured that the IOC are concerned about Kremlev’s past, but Alisher Usmanov spent six years in a Soviet prison in the 1980s on charges of fraud and embezzlement, although his conviction was later overturned, before becoming one of Russia’s richest men and being elected as President of the International Fencing Federation.

Some senior international officials independent of the IBA believe that Kremlev is the victim of a witch-hunt by leading administrators at the IOC who have their own agenda.

Certainly, there were clear signs today that the IOC’s refusal to accept Kremlev is stretching his patience to breaking point and he made it clear that his loyalty rested with those who had just delivered such a vote of confidence in him. "I am working for you, not for a side organisation," he told delegates during his closing speech.

The threat of boxing being removed from the Olympic programme after Paris 2024 certainly did not appear to be on the minds of many National Federations here as they rose to their feet to applaud Kremlev. 

The IOC are a pragmatic organisation who will not throw a sport out of the Olympics with more than 120-years of history, and which has produced some of the Games' most iconic moments, including Cassius Clay's victory at Rome 1960, Joe Frazier's gold medal at Mexico City 1968 and Katie Taylor’s emotion-fuelled win at London 2012, without careful consideration.

The fact that the 2028 Olympics are taking place in Los Angeles and boxing remains a popular sport in the United States will certainly help Kremlev’s campaign to ensure it remains part of the Games.

Kremlev’s relationship with the US is also friendlier than it appears on the surface, and it is not hard to imagine an unholy secret alliance being formed to make sure boxing is in Los Angeles 2028.

While merchants of doom on social media were writing off boxing’s Olympic chances, there was a celebratory mood here among the supporters of Kremlev. They have complete confidence in their man delivering what he promised, including retaining the sport’s place in the Games.

It did not feel here today that boxing was on the canvas, let alone close to being KO'd. Only time will tell whether Kremlev has pulled off the political equivalent of rope-a-dope and that the IOC will back down in time for Los Angeles 2028, or whether they are just waiting to administer that final punch that will leave boxing out for the count.