The 34th annual International Boxing Federation (IBF) Convention began in St. Petersburg, Florida on May 21, 2017 at the Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront with a welcome cocktail party at the pool of the hotel. Three current IBF female world champions attended the cocktail party. Leonela Paola Yudica (12-0-3, 0 KO) is the IBF world female flyweight champion. Yudica is a teacher of children at a school in Argentina and one of the best female flyweight boxers in the world, but she was not selected to participate in the World Boxing Council (WBC) female flyweight tournament. Female world champions of the WBC who are Mexican and fight in Mexico can earn enough money to focus solely on boxing. However, it appears that female Argentinian pro boxers who only get opportunities to fight in Argentina have to be employed in another profession in addition to boxing in order to make a living.
Carolina Raquel Duer (19-3-1, 6 KOs) is also from Argentina. Duer won the interim IBF world female bantamweight title last year, but she said that she was elevated to full world champion status. Duer was signed to a promotional contract with promoter Sampson Lewkowicz, who was also in attendance at the party. IBF world female featherweight champion Jennifer Han (16-3-1, 1 KO) of El Paso, Texas also attended the cocktail party. There were no current men's world champions at the cocktail party, but a couple of former world champions were there. James "Buddy" McGirt is currently a boxing trainer and a former IBF world super lightweight champion. Former IBF world cruiserweight champion James Warring was seen at the party talking to McGirt. Warring is currently a professional boxing referee.
IBF President Daryl Peoples spoke to FightHype.com about the convention. "We're loving it in St. Petersburg. The city has been very generous. We have a great site here and Florida has got a rich boxing history and we're planning on having a lot of boxing luminaries join us during the week," Peoples said. He also revealed that IBF world middleweight champion Gennady "GGG" Golovkin is expected to attend, as well as former IBF world light heavyweight champion Roy Jones Jr. and former IBF world super welterweight champion Ronald "Winky" Wright. On May 22, "Meet the Champions" is scheduled from 7:00PM to 10:00PM in the Grand Bay Ballroom of the hotel.
In the Annual Legal Report of the IBF, there was information about possible upcoming changes to the IBF logo. The IBF had a conference with trademark counsel regarding removal of the USBA acronym beneath the logo and the addition of the words "International Boxing Federation" around the top of the boxing gloves. According to the IBF, the changes will not require the filing of an additional trademark application. The United States Boxing Association (USBA) awards titles for United States Championships. The organization was initially known as the USBA because it was originally created for boxing in the United States. The organization changed its name to IBF/USBA in 1984. Larry Holmes became the first IBF world heavyweight champion that same year.