ABOUT US

About Us

Welsh Boxing

Welsh Boxing

Who We are

Funded by Sport Wales, WABA is the national governing body for amateur boxing in Wales. It is a National Member Federation of World Boxing and also a home nation member of the British Amateur Boxing Association (BABA), which is funded by UK Sport.

We adopt UKAD Rules and are UKAD Compliant. To report safeguarding concerns please contact the Welsh Boxing Lead Safeguarding Officer on 02920 334 929 Or by email: info@welshboxing.org

To contact the NSPCC directly: NSPCC Helpline 0808 800 5000

NSPCC Wales Tel: 02920334975 Email: CPSU@nspcc.org.uk 

Our Story

History

Formed in 1910, Welsh Amateur Boxing Association (WABA) was established as a way of promoting and developing amateur boxing in Wales.

From teaching the basics of boxing to developing elite Welsh talent, WABA has produced a number of highly decorated world-class amateur boxers, both male and female. (FYI – we don’t refer to professional boxing as it’s deemed to be a different code/sport.)

Today – with over 130 affiliated clubs and members of all genders, ethnicities and ages – the work we do is more important than ever. As the sport goes from strength to strength, our democratically elected Board of Directors help ensure Welsh amateur boxing’s continued growth; ensuring effective day-to-day and long-term governance and delivery of WABA’s objectives.

About

Amateur Boxing

Welsh Amateur Boxing Association recognises Amateur Olympic Boxing (AOB) as its competition format.

The Olympic format is often much faster due to the shortness of the bouts and scoring is based around technical and tactical ability. It requires a great deal of technical skill and extremely high levels of fitness. Amateur boxers can join their local boxing gym at 6 years of age, have skills bouts from 8 years of age and bouts from the age of 10 until the age of 40.

Boxers usually wear either red or blue strips, boxing gloves and protective equipment such as head guards. The winner of the bout is the decided by ringside judges and the result is based on

  1. Number of quality blows on target area
  2. Domination of the bout by technique and tactics
  3. Competitiveness, unless the referee stops the contest.

Boxers usually box for three 3-minute rounds, as opposed to 12 rounds in professional boxing. However, these rules vary dependent on age and  experience.

Board of Directors

Chair

Jason Harborow

Finance

Adam Thompson

SAFEGUARDING & EDI

Helen Arnold Richardson

governance

John Davies

Regulation

Robert Smith

Legal

Jonathan Arter

Community

Katy Evans

Board Member

Ben Stirling

Performance

Diana Lewis

Company Secretary | Colin Metson

Extra Information

Board Of Directors (BOD) Information

The Board of Directors (BOD) draws its authority from the Articles of Association of WABA Ltd. Directors are either elected by the WABA Membership at an Annual General Meeting or appointed by the Board with relevant skills. The BOD meet regularly and a record of its meetings can be found on our Downloads Page.

Good governance is critical to the health of any organisation and WABA is committed to ensuring a robust system of governance with clear lines of accountability for all aspects of the organisation is in place. The BOD is accountable for ensuring effective governance and for delivering the vision, mission and objectives of the sport.

The BOD is also responsible and accountable for sound financial management. The Board sets WABA’s annual budget and is responsible for the sport’s long-term direction and growth.

The BOD will also consider areas such as commercialisation, business development, risk, overview of rules and regulations, sports administration and community development.

The Board comprises of up to twelve directors, together with a non-voting Company Secretary. The Chair and Finance Director hold office for a period of four years, all other roles are in place for a two-year term. All BOD roles are unpaid roles.

Life Members

Only members who have rendered outstanding service and meritorious service to Welsh Boxing for a significant period will be considered for election as a Life Member. Such service will be determined by the Board, which has absolute discretion in this matter.

Nominees are to be nominated by their Division and there is no limit on the number of divisional nominations. However, each nomination must include rationale of suitability for Life Membership. Selection will then be made by the Board.

Life Members thus approved will receive a certificate confirming their selection as a Life Member of WABA.

LIFE MEMBERS |

20 September 2025 | Gary Meredith
20 September 2025 | Graham Brockway
20 September 2025 | David Butch Jones
20 September 2025 | Brian Ahmed
20 September 2025 | Tudor Davies
21 September 2024 | Patrick Mahoney
21 September 2024 | Roger Williams
21 September 2024 | Ralph Gammer
21 September 2024 | Mike Hogan
16 September 2023 | Paddy Simons
16 September 2023 | Stephen Brophy
16 September 2023 | Carl Pesticcio
23 October 2022 | Del Phillips
23 October 2022 | Darryl Jones
23 October 2022 | Terry Grey
17 October 2020 | Eddie Dyer
17 October 2020 | Ray Thorogood
18 October 2020 | Gary Butcher
18 October 2020 | Gordon Davies
18 October 2020 | Melvyn Hamer
15 January 2020 | Mal Emerson
20 October 2019 | Keith Jefferies
20 October 2019 | Bob McCoy
20 October 2019 | John Waith
20 October 2019 | Tony Wynne