Boxers have the opportunity of qualifying for the Olympic Games through various competitions. For instance, boxers qualified for the London 2012 Olympic Games via the 2010/2011 World Series of Boxing season, the AIBA World Boxing Championships Baku 2011 and will at five continental Qualifying Events and a tripartite selection. Only AIBA registered boxers can compete at the Olympic and Pan-American Games.
Elite Men’s Boxing bouts consist of three rounds of three minutes each and four rounds of two minutes each for Women’s Boxing. Athletes are required to wear gloves, headgears, bandages, gum shield, protectors and red or blue vest with shorts and boots.
The draw is a random one, however to ensure a level playing field and avoid the best World ranked boxers meeting in the early rounds, the draw may be seeded for only World Championships and the Olympic Games. The tournaments are in a straight knock-out format with both semi-final runners-up receiving bronze medals.
The winner of a boxing bout is determined as follows:
- on points, by counting the number of punches landed successfully on their opponent’s head or upper body, assessed by judges;
- by retirement;
- by Referee Stopping Contest (RSC);
- by RSC Injury;
- by RSCH;
- by disqualification;
- by knock-out;
- “No Contest”;
- by walk-over.
Boxing is divided into 10 weight categories for men: light flyweight (46-49kg), flyweight (52kg), bantamweight (56kg), lightweight (60kg), light welterweight (64kg), welterweight (69kg), middleweight (75kg), light heavyweight (81kg), heavyweight (91kg) and super heavyweight (+91kg). Being added to the Olympic programme for the first time in history at the London 2012 Olympic Games, women’s boxing will be divided into 3 weight categories: fly (48-51kg), light (57-60kg) and middle (69-75kg).
Rewinding
Boxing is often referred to as one of the oldest and most traditional sports, its acceptance as an Olympic discipline can be traced back to the ancient Greeks in 688 BC. It is believed that the sport first originated in the Sumerian cities of ancient Egypt as well as in China as far back as the 3rd millennium BC. Boxing or pugilism, as it is also known, has been depicted as the noble art.
Modern Boxing was then introduced as an Olympic sport in St. Louis in 1904 at the III Olympiad. This first edition of the combat sport at the Olympic Games was divided into seven weight categories and the tournament witnessed a clean sweep of US victories. In 1912, the Boxing tournament was cancelled for the Stockholm Olympic Games, due to former Swedish law at the time banning the combat sport. However, following World War I, the boxing tournament was once again reinstated at the 1920 Antwerp Olympic Games in Belgium.
Following the historical IOC congressional decision in August 2009, women’s Boxing will now officially be a part of the Olympic Games program. The XXX Olympiad in London will be the first time women boxers compete in one of the oldest sporting disciplines. Three weight classes have been introduced; these are the 51, 60 and 75kg.
