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The sport will feature 248 participants from 68 national federations, including 124 female pugilists — the highest in Olympic history. read more
 "Boxing - history, rules, defending champions")
Cuba's Julio César La Cruz will be eyeing a third consecutive men's heavyweight gold in the Paris Olympics. Reuters
Boxing has been around for a while now in human history, with Sumerian artifacts from the 3rd millennium BCE found in modern-day Iraq serving as the earliest visual evidence of the sport’s existence. The sport was also part of the ancient Olympics in Greece and was introduced in 688 BCE, in which the participants wore soft leather thongs on their hands for protection.
There were records of the informal bouts taking place in Britain in the late 17th century, with competitors fighting in the absence of gloves or rules for an agreed purse. It was also in Britain where amateur boxing — one of the two disciplines of the sport — was first recorded in 1880.
What is boxing’s history at Olympics?
Boxing made its Olympic debut in the 1904 Games in St Louis, USA and has been part of the Olympic programme ever since — except in the 1912 edition in Stockholm, as the sport was banned in Sweden at the time. Women’s boxing would make its debut in London 2012, more than a century later.
USA is the most successful nation in Olympic boxing with 117 medals, with Cuba and Britain sitting at the second and third spots in the all-time medal table with 78 and 62 medals respectively. The United States, in fact, had swept the boxing event in St Louis 1904 as the only participating nation.
Boxing’s future in the Olympics, however, hangs in the balance, with the sport not included in the list for the 2028 Los Angeles Games so far.
The controversy-laden International Boxing Association (IBA) has been suspended since 2019 due to allegations of corruption among other issues. The IOC would then revoke the IBA’s Olympic rights during its session in Mumbai last year. Incidentally, it was the IOC that had organised the boxing event in Tokyo 2020 and is doing the same in Paris 2024.
Some national boxing federations had broken away from the IBA to form a brand new global body named World Boxing. However, the number of members that are part of the newly-formed federation is too low for it to be recognised by the IOC as the sport’s global governing body, given the IBA still represents 195 associations.
What are the rules?
Only amateur boxing is allowed in the Olympics. A bout is contested over three rounds of three minutes each for men and four rounds of two minutes each for women. At the end of each round, the judges determine the winner and award him/her 10 points, with the loser scoring between 7 to 9 points based on their performance.
The winner of the bout is determined once the scores from all the rounds have been tallied. Male boxers were required to wear protective headgear between the 1984 and 2012 Games before it was removed in 2016, although female boxers still have to wear headgear.
Who are the reigning champions?
Men’s flyweight: Galal Yafai, Britain.
Men’s featherweight: Albert Batyrgaziev, ROC.
Men’s lightweight: Andy Cruz, Cuba.
Men’s welterweight: Roniel Iglesias, Cuba.
Men’s light heavyweight: Arlen López, Cuba.
Men’s heavyweight: Julio César La Cruz, Cuba.
Men’s super heavyweight: Bakhodir Jalolov, Uzbekistan.
Women’s flyweight: Stoyka Krasteva, Bulgaria.
Women’s bantamweight: New category.
Women’s featherweight: Sena Irie, Japan.
Women’s lightweight: Kellie Harrington, Ireland.
Women’s welterweight: Busenaz Sürmeneli, Turkey.
Women’s middleweight: Lauren Price, Britain.
How many athletes have qualified?
A total of 248 boxers from 68 nations will be participating in the Paris Olympics. Female boxers will have the highest representation in Olympic history in the Paris Games with 124 boxers competing in a record six weight classes.
Who are the athletes to watch in boxing?
Arlen López, Cuba: The powerful two-time Olympic champion will attempt to become the fourth three-time gold medalist in Olympic boxing history. Now 31, he’ll probably have to beat the Philippines’ Eumir Marcial, a promising pro boxer and Manny Pacquiao protégé.
Julio César La Cruz, Cuba: Although he took two pro fights in 2022, the punishing heavyweight is back to take his own shot at the exclusive club of three-time gold medalists.
Teremoana “Junior” Teremoana, Australia: The most compelling fighter on the Aussies’ impressive team might be this 6-foot-6 super heavyweight with four professional knockouts.
Kellie Harrington, Ireland: The lightweight champion of Tokyo is back to try for a second gold, but she is coming off her first loss in nearly three years and has faced criticism for her perceived anti-immigration stances on social media.
Busenaz Sürmeneli, Turkey: She utterly dominated the welterweights in Tokyo to win her nation’s first Olympic boxing medal. Now a standard-bearer for the amateur sport, she’s back in Paris with an eye already on Los Angeles.
When and where will boxing take place at Paris Olympics?
Boxing begins on 27 July and concludes on 10 August, one day before the closing ceremony. The final five days of competition, including the gold medal bouts, will be held at the famed Roland Garros tennis complex.
With inputs from AP
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English (US) ·