NABF 54th Annual Convention Opening Day

By Boxing Bob Newman

The NABF’s 54th annual convention has landed in San Antonio, Texas at the Grand Hyatt Riverwalk hotel.

A closed meeting of the executive board took place this afternoon with one topic as hot as the 105° temperature outside: that being the gender issue, specifically in female boxing, which practically overshadowed all other boxing news in this year’s Olympics in Paris.

A committee was convened to take a hard look at what the NABF’s approach should be regarding this situation. Much like the issue of PED’s in the sport and testing to detect them, gender confirmation will be a touchstone for some time to come and the NABF wants to lead the way in getting a handle on this issue.

NABF president Duane Ford praised the ratings board, led by Tommy Ashy, for the time consuming and punctual work put in every month, while Ashy also balances work with the WBC ratings board as well.

Changes to the federation’s website were discussed, as well as a new credit card mechanism, along with possible product merchandising opportunities.

There will be one vice president post election held this year due to 2 years lost during the covid pandemic and that particular position was in a state of flux at that time.

At 6:30 p.m. was the annual “personality improvement” cocktail hour, followed by a private dinner at the historic Mi Tierra restaurant about a mile from the host hotel. NABF featherweight champ Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington was a special guest at the dinner. Carrington will receive a recognition before he leaves tomorrow to resume training for his upcoming title defense against a resurgent Sulaiman Segawa on September 27th at the Theater of MSG.

Friday will see the official opening sessions with several guest speakers spread out over the morning and afternoon with a lunch in between.

The afternoon will also see the return of the popular and successful “round table sessions” where several moderators, each with a specific topic, will move amongst groups to discuss that topic within a specified time frame, sharing and comparing resulting opinions at the end. The evening will be free for all delegates tomorrow night.

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