Photo Gallery

The International Boxing Association is proud to announce that Badar-Uugan Enkhbat (MGL) and Katie Taylor (IRL) were named as the 2008 AIBA Best Male and Female Boxer of Year at the inaugural AIBA Annual Awards Ceremony at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Moscow, Russia on Friday.

Enkhbat claimed gold in the 54kg Beijing Olympic Games to became Mongolia's first Olympic boxing gold (out of eight Olympic Games, Mongolia had previously won two bronze medals - 1988, 1992) and second ever gold medallist. The 23-year-old is also the Asian champion after finishing second in the AIBA World Championships Chicago 2007.

Taylor, meanwhile, defended her AIBA Women's World Championships 60kg title with victory at the 2008 edition in Ningbo City, China last month. Taylor convincingly beat China's Dong Cheng 13:2 in an incredible display of speed and power in the final and was named Boxer of the Tournament.

Pic: AIBA President Dr. Ching-Kuo Wu with the four award recipients (from right to left) Pedro Roque Otano (CUB), Katie Taylor, Li Qingsheng. Badar-Uugan Enkhbat was represented by his coach Bandi Damdinjav

When accepting the award she said, "I would like to thank AIBA for this very special award, it means a lot not only to me but also to all the female boxers who practice our beautiful sport. Women's boxing is amazing at the moment, the level is increasing and the recent Women's World Championships were a perfect example of the very high standard we find ourselves competing in. This award is great recognition of the excellent progress women's boxing has made in recent years and I would like to dedicate it to all the female athletes around the world who are training hard and competing in the hope that we will be able to participate in the 2012 Olympic Games."

In other awards, China's Li Qingsheng was named AIBA Referee and Judge of the Year, Cuba's Pedro Roque Otano AIBA Coach of the Year while Terry Smith (WAL) received a special recognition award for his performance as the head Technical Delegate at the 2008 Olympic Games.

The award winners were selected by the AIBA Executive Bureau which consists of Executive Committee members from each Continent: AIBA President Dr. Ching-Kuo Wu (TPE), AIBA Executive Vice-President Mr. Gofur Rahkimov (UZB), AIBA Vice-President Dr. Humbert Furgoni (FRA), Dr. Abdallah Bessalem (ALG) and AIBA Executive Committee member Dr. Charles Butler (USA). The selection criteria was based on all international boxers' performances both inside and outside of the ring.

An AIBA Forum on the subject of Ethics and Refereeing and Judging, and scoring was held after the Awards Ceremony. The AIBA World Cup will resume on Saturday starting at 16:00 (local time).