Overview

Boxing is one of the oldest combat sports in history, having been part of the ancient Greek Olympic Games as far back as 688 BC. It returned to the modern Olympics at the St. Louis 1904 Games and has been absent only from the Stockholm 1912 edition. Women's boxing entered the programme for the first time at London 2012.

Olympic boxing differs from the professional version in several ways. Each bout consists of three rounds of three minutes, with the result decided by the cumulative scoring of judges based on landed punches — not solely by knockouts, though technical stoppages and referee decisions are permitted in specific cases. The Paris 2024 programme featured seven weight categories for men (51kg, 57kg, 63.5kg, 71kg, 80kg, 92kg, +92kg) and six for women (50kg, 54kg, 57kg, 60kg, 66kg, 75kg).

The sport is governed internationally by World Boxing, following a period of major institutional reform. The Olympic ring has long been the proving ground for many of boxing's all-time greats before they turned professional — from Muhammad Ali to George Foreman and Oscar De La Hoya. This transition from the amateur to the professional ranks remains one of the sport's most compelling narratives at each Olympic Games.