(BBC)Britain’s Anthony Joshua won gold at London 2012 as an amateur before turning professional
Professional boxers could compete at the Rio Olympics under new plans from the sport’s governing body.
AIBA president Dr Ching-Kuo Wu wants to abolish current rules which stop any fighter with 15 or more paid bouts from competing at the Games.
His proposal needs to be approved by the AIBA’s executive committee, but Wu said: “We want something to change – not after four years, but now.”
Wu was speaking at an AIBA Commissions meeting in Manchester on Wednesday.
“It is an International Olympic Commission (IOC) policy to have the best athletes in the Games, and of the international federations, AIBA is probably the only one without professional athletes in the Olympics,” Wu said.
He added it was “absolutely possible” to change the rules in time for August’s Olympics.
A British Amateur Boxing Association (BABA) spokesman said: “The proposals have the potential to broaden the talent pool from which we are able to select boxers and we are look forward to hearing more about them in due course.
“In the meantime, we have a squad of talented boxers that are all training hard to qualify for Rio 2016 and all of our efforts are focused on helping them to achieve this.”
The qualifying process for this year’s Games is already underway, with 60 boxers having already secured their places in Rio.
British boxers are competing in the World Series of Boxing for the British Lionhearts team, with an Olympic qualifying event in May.
