Male boxers will compete without headguards in the 2016 Rio Olympics after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) endorsed the decision of the sport’s amateur governing body.
The International Boxing Association (AIBA) changed the rules for amateur fighters back in 2013, and now boxers will fight without headgear at the Games for the first time since 1984.  
The rule change does not apply to female fighters, who will continue to use head protection.
The AIBA changed the rules for the 2013 world championships in Almaty, and extensive research has shown a drop of 43% in the amount of concussions suffered in major bouts since.
“We are profoundly pleased that there will be no headguard for male boxers in Rio. It is something that has been expected by our boxers and by the boxing fans the world over,” said AIBA president Dr Ching-Kuo Wu.  
“Since our very first conversations with athletes and medical staff on the issue, we have been investigating the possibility of removing headguards.
“Both our statistical research, and the feedback from boxers and coaches, shows us that this is the best outcome for our sport.”

Pacquiao would love to fight in Rio
Boxing great Manny Pacquiao said yesterday it would be an honour to fight for the Philippines at this year’s Rio Olympics, where professional fighters could be allowed to compete for the first time.
The eight-time world champion said he had been “personally invited” to the Rio de Janeiro Games by Wu.
“It would be my honour to represent the country in the Olympics,” Pacquiao said in a statement to AFP. “If I would be asked to represent boxing, why not? I would do everything for my country.”
The 37-year-old, one of the world’s wealthiest boxers, made the comments while training for what he said would be his last professional fight, an April 9 Las Vegas rematch with American Timothy Bradley.
Wu told AFP in Switzerland on Monday that AIBA would vote within three months on proposals that would allow all professional fighters to compete in the Olympic Games, including in Rio.
Wu said proposed changes to AIBA statutes, set to be put to a vote at a special congress of AIBA confederations at the end of May, could leave Olympic eligibility in the hands of the national boxing federations.
Qualifying for the 2016 Rio summer games that begin on August 5 is already under way, but Wu noted that there were still opportunities for professionals to qualify.
Spokesmen for the Philippine Olympic Committee had no  comment on Pacquiao’s statement.
Pacquiao has posted a 57-6-2 win-loss-draw record in a glittering 21-year pro career that began in January 1995.
He never competed in the Olympics, although he did act as the country’s flag-bearer in the 2008 games.
Already an elected member of the House of Representatives, he is running for a Senate seat in May elections—with an eye on an eventual presidential bid.
His Olympic comments came after he touched off a global firestorm with controversial comments describing homosexual couples as “worse than animals”.
The comments, for which he has made a qualified apology, cost him his long-term association with major global sponsor Nike.

Related Story