Last April, Antalya held the very first edition of the AIBA Women's Junior and Youth World Boxing Championships.

Just before women's boxing makes its debut at the London 2012 Olympic Games, the event underlined the considerable rise in popularity of women's boxing.

On this occasion, AIBA's 'Road to Dream' programme earned its first three medals, including a gold one.

The biggest ever AIBA Junior World Boxing Championships held in Astana in July was the perfect illustration of the growth of our beloved sport in every part of the globe.


Out of 360 boxers from 52 nations, athletes from Iraq and French Polynesia conquered their way to historical silver and bronze medals.

The landmark of the year was yet to come however.

On August 1, 2011, I had the honour of announcing the launch of the AIBA Professional Boxing (APB) programme.

This revolutionary project will install AIBA as the ultimate responsible body for boxers' entire careers.

Confirming the inspiring unity of our organisation, I received the full support of AIBA's National Federations at the Extraordinary Congress held in Baku, Azerbaijan a few weeks after this announcement.


Baku was also the stage of one of the most impressive AIBA World Boxing Championships of all time.

With 570 boxers from 113 countries fighting not only for medals but also qualification places for the London 2012 Olympic Games, the spectacular show took place over twelve days of competition.

I sincerely believe that 2011 will remain a watershed year in the history of AIBA.

I am hoping for the very best for 2012 with the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships in Qinhuangdao, China and also the Continental Olympic Qualifying tournaments.

These events will be the highlights of the next six months as we build up towards the London 2012 Olympic Games.

C K Wu is the President of International Boxing Association (AIBA) and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)