NEWS

IOC approves Olympic Qualification System for boxing competition at LA28

May 13, 2026

The Qualification System developed by World Boxing for the boxing competition at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games (LA28) has been approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Under the system (HERE) 248 places are available at LA28, which will be the first Olympic Games in history to feature gender parity in the boxing competition with seven weight classes each for men and women that will be contested by 124 males and 124 females.

MEN’S WEIGHTS		WOMEN’S WEIGHTS
Weights	Places	Weights	Places
55kg	18	51kg	18
60kg	18	54kg	18
65kg	20	57kg	20
70kg	20	60kg	18
80kg	16	65kg	18
90kg	16	70kg	16
90kg+	16	75kg	16
TOTAL	124	TOTAL	124

The Qualification System is made up of three global competitions and five Continental events which means that boxers will have up to four opportunities to secure a place at LA28.

The qualification pathway and the boxing competition in Los Angeles will be overseen and managed by World Boxing which is the International Federation for boxing recognised by the IOC.

The first qualification event will be the 2027 World Boxing Championships in Kazakhstan which will be followed by five Continental qualifiers in 2027 and 2028. The path to LA28 will conclude with two final world qualifiers in 2028. The bidding process to host one of these events will begin imminently.

The Secretary General of World Boxing, Tom Dielen, said: “The boxing competition at LA28 will be a historic moment for the sport as it will be the first to feature gender parity and is a sign of the rapid progress that has been made since female boxing was first included in the Games at London 2012.

“World Boxing is committed to playing a positive role within the Olympic Movement and we look forward to working closely with the IOC and our National Federations and Continental Confederations to delivering a qualification pathway and a boxing competition in Los Angeles that will provide a fantastic platform for our male and female competitors to showcase their skills and pursue their dream of Olympic success.”

World Boxing was launched in April 2023. It held its first formal meeting with the IOC in May 2024 and on 25 February 2025, it was granted provisional recognition by the IOC as the International Federation (IF) within the Olympic Movement governing the sport of boxing at world level.

World Boxing lifts athlete neutrality restrictions on Belarus

May 12, 2026

The Executive Board of World Boxing has decided that its AIN policy – ‘Athlètes Individuels Neutres’ (Individual Neutral Athletes) – will no longer be applied to Belarus and that athletes, coaches, support staff and officials from the country can now compete in World Boxing competitions in the same way as other member National Federations.

The move follows the recent recommendation by the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that the AIN restrictions which had been in place on Belarus should be lifted and its athletes allowed to compete in international competitions under their own flag.

The World Boxing AIN Procedure will continue to be applied to Russia. It means that Russian delegations will not be allowed to participate with national flags, uniforms or anthems and will have to pass a detailed vetting process to be able to take part in World Boxing competitions.

The removal of restrictions on Belarus has been introduced with immediate effect and means it is now able to participate without restrictions at all international competitions organised by World Boxing, its Continental Confederation for Europe, European Boxing, and international competitions organised by World Boxing member National Federations.

Richard Brooke appointed Interim Chair of World Boxing’s Finance and Audit Committee after Julia Felton’s decision to stand down

May 8, 2026

Richard Brooke has been appointed Interim Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee by the Executive Board of World Boxing after Julia Felton made the decision to stand down before the completion of her term.

Brooke spent four years as Chair of England Boxing and will take on the Interim role until thenext World Boxing Congress in November 2026, when a new Chair will be elected.

An experienced sports and media industry executive, Brooke has a background in finance andspent a number of years as the Group Finance Director of Sky plc. He was also an Executive Director of Setanta Sports, a Senior Advisor to Close Brothers corporate finance and Chair of GBI Racing.

World Boxing Executive Board confirms timeline for elections at Congress 2026 and creation of a multi-year competition calendar

May 5, 2026

World Boxing has confirmed the timeline for elections at Congress 2026 and the creation of a multi-year competition calendar from 2027 following its latest Executive Board meeting.

They were among a series of decisions covering governance and sport and competitions made at the Executive Board meeting which also confirmed the details of World Boxing’s athlete neutrality (AIN) policy and endorsed membership applications from seven more National Federations.

The President of World Boxing, Gennadiy Golovkin, said: “I would like to thank all of my colleagues for their contributions at the latest Executive Board meeting which has seen World Boxing make significant progress in a number of key areas covering governance, membership, and competitions and creating the best possible environment for boxers to succeed and perform at their best.

“As President, I am committed to ensuring that we continue to build on this progress and the achievements of recent months, as we seek to create a trusted, modern and professional International Federation that puts the interests of boxers first and fully meets the expectations of the Olympic Movement.”

The agreement on the timeline for elections at Congress 2026 means that nominations opened on 1 May 2026 and will run for three months until 1 August 2026. In line with World Boxing’s statutes, all nominations will then be vetted by an independent panel which will confirm the final list of candidates no later than 1 September 2026.

Details of the nomination and election voting process are available HERE. The nominations form is available HERE. The elections will take place at the World Boxing Congress 2026 in Panama City on 20 November 2026.

Seven positions on the Executive Board are up for election and include two Vice-President positions, two places on the Executive Board and the roles of Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee, the Sports and Competition Committee and the Medical and Anti-Doping Committee.

On sport and competitions, the Executive Board made a range of decisions covering planning and bidding, athlete welfare and the allocation of ranking points.

To support National Federations, the Executive Board approved a multi-year competition calendar for 2027 -2029 which is designed to provide greater clarity and enable countries to plan their competitive schedules at a critically important time in the Olympic cycle.

The calendar includes World Boxing Championships, World Boxing Cups, continental Games, Olympic qualifiers and the Olympic Games. An outline structure of the 2027 – 29 calendar will be published shortly when the bidding process will be opened for National Federations to host competitions.

Following concerns raised about the incidence of cuts in men’s boxing and their subsequent impact on boxers’ability to complete competitions, the Executive Board has tasked the Sport and Competition Committee with looking into this issue and the potential re-introduction of protective headgear in elite male competitions. The Committee will prepare a report and a proposal which will be voted on at Congress 2026.

The next meeting of World Boxing’s Executive Board will be 30 July 2026 during the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Endorsement of seven new applications takes membership ofWorld Boxing to 175 National Federations

April 29, 2026

The Executive Board of World Boxing has endorsed seven new membership applications from the National Federations for boxing in Antigua and Barbuda, Cameroon, Curaçao, Gabon, Grenada, South Africa and Vanuatu.

The endorsements mean that World Boxing now has 175 member National Federations made-up of 123 ‘Full Members’, one ‘Associate Member’ and 51 ‘Endorsed Members’.

The Executive Board’s decision to endorse the applications from Antigua and Barbuda, Cameroon, Gabon, Grenada, South Africa and Vanuatu means that all six countries will be able to compete in the boxing competition at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games this summer, which will be held under World Boxing’s rules.

To secure the endorsement of the Executive Board, all seven National Federations have completed a rigorous application process and are deemed to be in good standing and, through their statutes and operating processes, able to demonstrate a transparent and open election process for the appointment of office bearing roles; showcase the existence and operation of WADA-recognsied anti-doping polices and processes; and provide evidence of a structured, dispute resolution and appeals process that is either fully independent or subject to external input.

The seven new National Federation members are:

• Antigua and Barbuda Boxing Association

• Cameroon Boxing Federation

• Curaçao Boxing Association.

• La Fédération Gabonaise de Boxe

• Boxing Association of Grenada Inc

• South African National Boxing Organisation

• Vanuatu Boxing Federation

Under World Boxing Statutes HERE the seven new National Federations have ‘Endorsed Member’ status which means they are able to compete in World Boxing competitions but cannot vote at Congress 2026 as they do not have ‘Full Member’ status.

‘Full Member’ status can only be conferred by Congress, which is the ultimate authority of World Boxing, and will be voted on at the next World Boxing Congress in Panama on 20 November 2026. ‘Endorsed Members’ that are successful in having their membership applications ratified at this Congress and become ‘Full Members’ will be able to vote at the following year’s Congress in 2027 and all those thereafter.

Lists of the 124 National Federations that have ‘Full Member’ or ‘Associate Member’ status and the 51 National Federations that are ‘Endorsed Member’ can viewed be in the membership section of the World Boxing website HERE.

World Boxing confirms details of AIN procedure that will allow boxers from Russia and Belarus to take part in its competitions

April 28, 2026

World Boxing has confirmed the details of its new AIN procedure – ‘Athlètes Individuels Neutres’ (Individual Neutral Athletes) – which will be used to determine the basis on which athletes, coaches, support staff and officials from Russia and Belarus will be permitted to participate in international competitions organised by World Boxing, its Continental Confederation for Europe, European Boxing, or international competitions organised by World Boxing member National Federations.

It means that delegations from Russia and Belarus will not be allowed to participate with national flags, uniforms or anthems and will have to pass a detailed vetting process to be able to take part in World Boxing events.

The AIN procedure was approved by the Executive Board of World Boxing at its most recent meeting in April 2026 and reflects the approach taken by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It has been developed following the decision by the Executive Board of World Boxing, at its previous meeting in March 2026, to endorse membership applications from the Belarussian Boxing Federation and the Russian Boxing Federation that will allow their boxers to compete in World Boxing events.

Key details of the AIN procedure are:

Flags:

There will be no use of the country or National Federation flag during the competition
If a boxer from an AIN country wins a gold medal, the national anthem will not be played
If a boxer from an AIN country wins a medal, the AIN logo will be used on a flag in the medal ceremony
The boxers will be represented on television graphics and all competition information as AIN
This will be applied at all age category events directly organised by World Boxing or European Boxing

Uniforms:

Boxers will appear with AIN on their vests and not RUS or BLR
The logo of the National Federation or the country will not be permitted to appear anywhere on a boxer’s uniform
Coaches, support staff and Team Officials will have to wear neutral uniforms which will have to be submitted to World Boxing prior to the competition for validation
From arrival until departure, not a single member of the AIN delegation will be permitted to wear any item that features their country or National Federation’s flag or logo in any competition setting, including the entry check, draw, weigh-in or technical meeting
This will be applied at all age category events organised by World Boxing, European Boxing or International Events organised by national federations where national teams participate.

Eligibility and Vetting:

Athlete entries by Russia and Belarus must be made directly to the World Boxing Sport Department and not directly through the online entry system for the event, however the deadlines in the invitation package will still apply and will not be modified
World Boxing will work with an expert, independent third party to conduct a series of checks on all athletes from Russia and Belarus that are entered into its competitions to ensure they do not have a history of supporting the war in Ukraine, are not paid by the military or security forces, are not members of clubs linked to the army or police force and have not participated in any events organised by The International Military Sports Council (CISM) since the start of the war in Ukraine
The cost of the vetting process for each athlete will be covered by the National Federation for Russia or Belarus and must be paid in advance of their participation in the competition
The vetting process will apply to all male and female athletes at Elite World Boxing competition, but will not apply to U19 or younger athletes
The vetting process will also apply to coaches and support staff that will be assisting male and female boxers at Elite and U19 competitions and the costs of this will also be paid by the National Federations
Technical Officials (TO) from the two countries will be treated as any other TO and vetted in line with World Boxing’s existing processes; additional checks may be conducted on TOs, but this will not be at the cost of the National Federation as the TO is not representing their country. Currently there are no Technical Officials accredited from the two countries.
If the vetting process for any individual produces a result that is not clear or raises further questions, a commission appointed by World Boxing’s Executive Board will review the case
The decision of the commission will be final and not open to appeal unless new information is provided

The AIN procedure has been introduced with immediate effect following the decision of World Boxing’s Executive Board and the Secretary General has written to the Belarussian Boxing Federation and the Russian Boxing Federation to provide them with details of the procedure and how it will be implemented.

Home nation tops medal table at ‘World Boxing Cup – Brazil 2026, Foz Do Iguaça’ with four golds and five silver medals

April 27, 2026

After seven days of thrilling action and more than 300 bouts, the home nation Brazil finished top of the medal table at the ‘World Boxing Cup – Brazil 2026, Foz Do Iguaça’.

The hosts enjoyed four victories on the final day of action at the Rafain Palace Hotel & Convention Centre which saw Luiz Oliveira (M60kg), Yuri Falcao (M65kg), Wanderley Pereira (M80kg) and Isaias Filho (M90kg) all finish on top of the podium with gold medals.

It was not all glory for the home nation though, as five members of the team had to settle for silver on a day when Brazil contested an astonishing nine finals.

In the men’s categories, light-middleweight (M70kg) Kaian Reis, and middleweight (M75kg) Thauan Silva, lost unanimously to Poland’s Damian Durkacz and Saidjamshid Jafarov of Azerbaijan respectively while Kaue Belini went down 4-1 to Kazakhstan’s Sultanbek Aibaruly at cruiserweight (M85kg).

It was the same story in the women’s weights where lightweight (W60kg) world champion Rebecca Santos lost on a 4:1 split to Kazakhstan’s Viktoriya Grafeyeva and at middleweight (W75kg) where Barabara Santos was unanimously outpointed by Norway’s Sunniva Hofstad, who won her fourth consecutive World Boxing Cup gold medal.

After Brazil, the next best performing nation was China which won all four of its finals on the last day of competition.

In the women’s weights, flyweight (W51kg) Xinyu Qi scored a 4:1 victory over France’s Romane Moulai and at bantamweight Yunman Gan (W54kg) edged a razor-thin 3:2 split over Sara Cirkovic of Serbia. Up at middleweight (W70kg) Liu Yang was more comfortable as she unanimously outpointed 2025 World Boxing Championship silver medallist, Lekeisha Pergoliti, of Australia.

The Chinese gold in the men’s weights went to Jiamao Zhang at bantamweight (M55kg) who won by walkover as Spain’s Rafael Lozano Serrano was forced to withdraw from the competition.

Third and fourth place in the medal table went to Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan which both had three winners on the final day of competition.

Kazakhstan’s third gold medal went to Valeriya Axenova, who defeated Hungary’s Zsofia Szira at heavyweight (W80kg) to emulate the achievements of her teammates, Viktoriya Grafeyeva and Sultanbek Aibaruly. For Azerbaijan, flyweight (M51kg), Subhan Mamedov, and super-heavyweight (M90kg+), Mahammad Abdullayev, joined teammate Saidjamshid Jafarov at the top of the podium.

The only other countries to win more than one final on the last day were Uzbekistan and Poland, which finished with two golds. Venezuela, Norway and Hungary each had a single gold medallist.

All of the results from the competition and other information including daily schedules and the draw is available HERE. All of the action from the competition can be viewed on the Confederação Brasileira de Boxe YouTube channel, available HERE.

The full list of all the medallists from the ‘World Boxing Cup – Brazil 2026, Foz Do Iguaça’ is below:

Weight	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Women’s weights
W48kg	Farzona Fozilova UZB	Fatima Herrera MEX	Marta Lopez Del Arbol ESP
			Tatiana Flores ARG
W51kg	Xinyu Qi CHN	Romane Moulai FRA	Alua Balkibekova KAZ
			Noelle Haro USA
W54kg	Yunman Gan CHN	Sara Cirkovic SRB	Lauren Mackie ENG
			Widad Bertal MAR
W57kg	Omailyn Alcala VEN	Kukhta Vladislava HUN	Shih Yi Wu TPE
			Delfina Arancibia ARG
W60kg	Viktoriya Grafeyeva KAZ	Rebeca Santos BRA	Yu Tian CHN
			Aneta Rygielska POL
W65kg	Navbakhor Khamidova UZB	Aida Abikeyeva KAZ	Oshin Derieuw BEL
			Sacha Hickey ENG
W70kg	Liu Yang CHN	Lekeisha Pergoliti AUS	Isabella Winkler USA
			Barbara Marcinkowska POL
W75kg	Sunniva Hofstad NOR	Barbara Santos BRA	Busra Isildar TUR
			Emma Sue Greentree AUS
W80kg	Emilia Koterska POL	Sofia Sørensen NOR	Zhibek Zharaskyzy KAZ
			N/A
W80kg+	Valeriya Axenova KAZ	Zsofia Szira HUN	N/A
			N/A

Men’s weights
M50g	Subhan Mamedov AZE	Issam Bensayar MAR	Martin Molina Salvador ESP
			Anvarzhan Khodzhiev KGZ
M55kg	Jiamao Zhang CHN	Rafael Lozano Serrano ESP	Yasen Radev BUL
			Rui Yamaguchi JPN
M60kg	Luiz Oliveira BRA	Salim Ellis Bey USA	Lounes Hamraoui FRA
			Keoma Al Ahmadieh CAN
M65kg	Yuri Falcao BRA	Shion Nishiyama JPN	Gabriel Labrie CAN
			Alexandru Paraschiv MDA
M70kg	Damian Durkacz POL	Kaian Reis BRA	Nabi Isgandarov AZE
			Makan Traore FRA
M75kg	Saidjamshid Jafarov AZE	Thauan Silva BRA	Mateusz Urban POL
			Gabriele Guidi Rontani ITA
M80kg	Wanderley Pereira BRA	Gabrijel Veočić CRO	Josh Ofori CAN
			Dias Molzhigitov KAZ
M85kg	Sultanbek Aibaruly KAZ	Kaue Belini BRA	Fares Deroiche AUT
			Valerij Walter GER
M90kg	Isaias Filho BRA	Enmanuel Reyes Pla ESP	Dean Nwokedi Chime ITA
			Emrah Yaşar TUR
M90kg+	Mahammad Abdullayev AZE	Davit Chaloyan ARM	Jakhongir Zokirov UZB
			Omar Shiha NOR

Follow all of World Boxing’s social media channels for updates on upcoming competitions and key announcements:

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/officialworldboxing/
X – https://x.com/RealWorldBoxing
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/OfficialWorldBoxing
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/world-boxing

Brazil dominates semi-final stage of ‘World Boxing Cup – Brazil 2026, Foz Do Iguaça’ with nine wins out of nine

April 26, 2026

Hosts Brazil enjoyed a triumphant sixth day at the ‘World Boxing Cup – Brazil 2026, Foz Do Iguaça’as its boxers enjoyed victories in all nine of their semi-finals at the Rafain Palace Hotel & Convention Centre.

It means that two Brazilian women and seven men will contest tomorrow’s finals after the semi-finals wins for Rebeca Santos (W54kg), Barbara Santos (W75kg), Luis Oliviera (M60kg), Yuri Falcao (M65kg), Kaian Reis (M70kg), Thauan Silva (M75kg), Wanderley Pereira (M80kg), Kaue Belini (M85kg) and Isaias Filho (M90kg).

China will have the second most boxers in tomorrow’s finals with four, closely followed by Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan with three each.

On another day of top-class action, the highlight for China came in the women’s flyweight (W51kg) competition where world number four, Xinyu Qi, defeated the reigning world champion, Alua Balkibekova of Kazakhstan.

Another upset was at featherweight (W57kg) where Kukhta Vladislava of Hungary, who defeated the world number one Julia Szeremeta earlier in the competition, secured a 3:2 split decision victory over world number six and 2024 Olympian, Shih Yi Wu of Chinese Taipei. The Hungarian will meet the world number four, Omailyn Alcala of Venezuela, in the final.

At middleweight (W75kg), Norway’s Sunniva Hofstad made her fourth consecutive World Boxing Cup Final with a unanimous victory over Emma Sue Greentree of Australia where she will face home favourite, Barbara Santos.

In the men’s competition, Armenian super-heavyweight (M90kg+) Davit Chaloyan beat 2025 World Boxing Championship silver medallist, Jakhingir Zokirov of Uzbekistan, on a 3:2 split decision to set-up a final with Azerbaijan’s Mahammad Abdullayev who secured a unanimous win over Norway’s Omar Shiha.

The only other men’s finals that does not feature a Brazilian boxer will be at flyweight (M50kg) where Morocco’s Issam Bensayar will meet Subhan Mamedov of Azerbaijan. At bantamweight (M55kg), Jiamao Zhang of China will receive the gold medal via walkover as Spain’s World Boxing Championship silver medallist, Rafale Lozano Serrano, has been forced to withdraw.

The full schedule of tomorrow’s finals along with all of the results from today’s semi-final and the rest of the competition are available HERE.

The finals will take part in a single ring set up with 19 bouts over two sessions of boxing (as the men’s bantamweight final will not go ahead).

The sessions start at 11:00 and 16:00 (local time).

All of the action will be livestreamed on the Confederação Brasileira de Boxe YouTube channel, available HERE.

World Boxing will be posting updates throughout the competition on its social media channels:

• Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/officialworldboxing/

• Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/OfficialWorldBoxing

• X – https://x.com/RealWorldBoxing