Ex-International Boxing Chief Loses U.S. Sanctions Challenge

A former president of the Amateur International Boxing Association accused of aiding a global drug ring lost his legal battle to escape longstanding U.S. sanctions.

A federal judge on Monday denied Gafur Rakhimov’s attempt to strike his name from the List of Specially Designated Nationals maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, citing “thin” arguments. The Uzbek businessman found himself on the SDN list in 2012 after the Treasury Department said he was a key member of the criminal group known as The Brothers’ Circle and oversaw heroin trafficking operations in Asia.

Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District ...