International Olympic Committee Confirms Gender Parity in Boxing at LA28 With Seven Weight Classes for Both Men and Women

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has confirmed the weight classes and quota places for the boxing competition at the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 (LA28) where there will be full parity between men and women.

It means there will be seven weight classes for both men and women, who will have an equal share of the 248 quota places in the boxing competition (124 each). 

Parity in the weight classes means an additional weight category has been added to the female competition from Paris 2024, where there were seven classes for men (125 quota places) and six for women (124 quota places).

The news follows the decision by the 144th Session of the IOC (20 March 2025) to restore boxing to the sport programme for LA28, where the competition and qualification pathway will be managed by World Boxing after it was granted provisional recognition by the IOC in February 2025 as the International Federation (IF) for boxing within the Olympic Movement.

The President of World Boxing, Boris van der Vorst, said: “Boxing is an inclusive sport that is open to everyone and we welcome the decision by the IOC to create parity in the number of weight classes for men and women at LA28.

“This will be a significant milestone for the sport and is a sign of the enormous progress that has been made in women’s boxing since it was first included in the Olympic programme at London 2012, where there were three weight categories. World Boxing is committed to playing a positive role within the Olympic Movement and we look forward to working closely with the IOC to deliver a boxing competition that will be a fantastic platform for our male and female competitors and showcase all that is great about our sport.”