By Chris Barrett
A long-time Australian coach has been caught up in boxing’s fight for Olympic survival after being banned for alleged involvement with an unsanctioned rival organisation as the sport’s outcast officials turn to Donald Trump.
Gerry Murphy, who has trained Olympic and Commonwealth Games athletes at his gym in Melbourne’s Surrey Hills, had his registration refused at a board meeting of Boxing Victoria last week in a decision endorsed by Boxing Australia that he plans to challenge at Australia’s National Sports Tribunal.
Gerry Murphy trains 30 registered boxers at his gym in Surrey Hills in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.Credit: Wayne Taylor
He had been suspended since September after posting on his gym’s Instagram account that he had been invited to join the board of the newly formed Australian National Amateur Boxing Association (ANABA).
The organisation is viewed dimly by established boxing authorities in Australia due to its ties with the International Boxing Association, the Russian-led governing body expelled by the International Olympic Committee over corruption and governance concerns and figured heavily in the gender storm that engulfed the Paris 2024 Games.
Boxing Australia quit the IBA 18 months ago and is one of 72 national federations to have joined the recently established World Boxing, an alternative global entity established in a bid to salvage boxing’s Olympic status.
Boxing Victoria president Scott Bindloss said Murphy was suspended and denied registration for being affiliated with a breakaway organisation under Boxing Australia regulations that forbid membership of unsanctioned associations or participation in unrecognised competitions.
“We’re not stopping his boxers from competing but we’re not letting Gerry enter the field of play because he’s with another organisation,” he said.
He said boxers trained by Murphy had also competed in events run by ANABA, which was formalised as an IBA member in December, and the unsanctioned Victorian Amateur Boxing League.
Boxing Victoria is a member association of Boxing Australia. Boxing Australia chief executive Dinah Glykidis said it supported Boxing Victoria’s decision, as it was in line with its rules and policy. “Boxing Australia [has] not [been] a member of IBA since July 2023, as they are not a recognised international federation under the IOC,” she said.
The outspoken Murphy is fiercely disputing the action taken against him, saying he never joined the ANABA board and denied he was involved with the Victorian Amateur Boxing League.
Murphy has been told his registration will be re-assessed in a year.
The Australian team enjoyed its equal best ever Olympic performance in Paris last year with Charlie Senior, right, among two bronze medallists.Credit: Getty Images
“I ended up rejecting ANABA’s invitation to sit on the board because of the BV reaction to my post,” Murphy said.
“I asked to be present or have representation at the BV board meeting that decided to ban me illegally for 12 months but was given no answer to my email.
“BV is acting in a bombastic manner which goes against their charter to be fair and inclusive to all members and officials. They have left me no option but to take legal action against them.”
In a further twist Murphy’s case has been taken up by Canberra lawyer Garry Hamilton, who is the president of Boxing ACT, another member association of Boxing Australia.
World Boxing said in a statement it did not prevent members from being part of another federation or taking part in its competitions and it was the choice of national governing bodies whether to oppose such activities. It said it would review its position on the issue as it worked towards a pathway to ensure boxing was restored to the Olympic programme.
The IOC is expected to make a call within the next month on whether to include boxing in its programme for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Australian officials are hopeful World Boxing will be approved as the Olympic movement’s newest partner federation and the troubled sport will gain a reprieve.
The US and Britain are behind World Boxing but the sport’s landscape has remained split, with the well-resourced IBA still claiming 190 members and scheduling global championships despite the IOC urging national federations to sever links with it.
While Boxing Australia has gone all in with World Boxing, its highly experienced former head of referees and judges Wayne Rose joined the IBA as a senior technical official. The IBA also counts Australian Kristy Harris, a former world championship bronze medallist, as one of its independent board members.
Boxing Australia received a major uplift in federal government funding after Australia qualified its largest-ever team at an Olympics and equalled its best performance with Charlie Senior and Caitlin Parker collecting bronze medals.
Its support from the Australian Sports Commission in 2024-25 is $2.5 million, up from $425,500 in 2023-24.
