THE 18th and 19th of February saw the World Gay Boxing Championships arrive in Sydney, with the world’s first LGBTQIA+ boxing event being held at The Ballroom in the Australian Turf Club at Randwick.

Speaking with Tina Brown on Triple H FM, the founder and CEO of WGBC, Martin Stark, discussed the importance of the event in promoting and creating inclusion within the sporting community. 

“It’s about showing boxing is a sport for everyone”, Stark explained. “We’re providing an environment where people can just compete, be themselves, free of harassment and prejudice.”

The 2-day amateur boxing event is featured fighters of various skill levels and experience, with the fights set to undertake a 3 x 2-minute round format. The event also featured a field of individuals representing different cultures and backgrounds, all uniting under one roof to celebrate the sport of boxing, and to place their own stamps on what will soon become a piece of sporting history.

When asked about his primary motivation and ambition for the World Gay Boxing Championships when he first arrived at the idea over three years ago, Stark gave a short yet powerful response. “Homophobia, transphobia, discrimination in sport to no longer exist.”

While acknowledging that a number of sporting initiatives have been conducted for over 40 years to this point, Stark pointed to the significance of continuing to be an ally of the LGBTQIA+ community, particularly in a social media era that has increased both positive and negative commentary on our professional athletes.

“First of all, it would be to educate yourself”, Stark mentioned when discussing the process of eliminating discrimination. “Understand the issues, understand and be able to identify the type of abuse and when something is abusive.”

After much leg work over a number of years, Martin’s creation finally makes its debut this February, and with the ultimate plan to travel to different locations every two years, it seems WGBC is set to make a splash in the boxing world.