File photo of Istvan Kovacs.
The International Boxing Association (AIBA) has appointed two-time world champion and Olympic gold-winning former boxer Istvan Kovacs as its Secretary General.
The decision was taken by the AIBA Board of Directors on Monday during a meeting via video conference.
"The fate of our organization has to be decided and will be decided by the boxers themselves...they know it from the inside and understand the needs for our sport better than any managers," said AIBA President Umar Kremlev.
"...I am pleased to announce that the Board of Directors members have approved Istvan Kovacs as AIBA Secretary General. I am positive that as Secretary General he will be able to bring AIBA to a fundamentally new efficiency level and transparency of management," he added.
The 50-year-old Kovacs hails from Hungary and was the bantamweight Olympic champion in the 1996 Atlanta Games. He finished his amateur career with a phenomenal record of 282 wins against 14 losses.
His amateur world titles came in the 1991 and 1997 editions.
After turning professional, he held the WBO featherweight world title in 2001 and ended his stint in the circuit with 22 wins against just a solitary loss.
"I am very grateful for the confidence placed in me by the AIBA Board of Directors. It is a great honor and at the same time a great responsibility to become the Secretary General of the International Boxing Association...," he said in a statement issued by AIBA.
"I see that the new AIBA leadership is heading in the right direction and is committed to working with full dedication to support and reinforce this course of positive change.
"I am sure that together we will be able to carry out all the necessary reforms and bring AIBA to a fundamentally new level," he added.
Kovacs will take over later this week.
