Transgender boxers will be subject to regular testing and need to fulfill a number of requirements in order to become and stay eligible, as per a new “Transgender Policy” that was drafted in August 2022 and will be formally adopted on January 1, 2024. For instance, a biological man who identifies as a transgender woman has to have had gender reassignment surgery, have had a testosterone reading of less than five nanomoles per liter for the two years prior, and have participated in competitions.
In contrast, a biological woman who identifies as a transgender male has to be post-operative, have had testosterone levels above ten nmol/L for the two years before, and have participated in competitions.
A year-long competition ban will be imposed on any transgender boxer found to have broken the rules.
Boxers under the age of eighteen, however, have to compete in the division that corresponds to their biological sex. Adult boxers may still choose to compete in their favorite gender division as long as they fulfill the rules.
When the group announced the new regulation, it informed the Daily Mail that its goal was to “provide fairness and safety for all boxers.”
It Is Likely That USA Boxing Will Make Its Own Decision
There will undoubtedly be some opposition to USA Boxing’s move, especially considering that a number of foreign organizations, such as the World Boxing Council, have worked to create a distinct division just for trans athletes to compete in.
WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman told Telegraph, “We are doing this because it is the right time and we are doing it because of safety and inclusion.” “We have set the standard for women’s boxing regulations, so the risks associated with a man fighting a woman will never arise thanks to the measures we are going to implement.”
Sulaiman continued, saying that trans competitors who identify as women shouldn’t be permitted to compete against cisgender women due to their enormous physical advantages.
“A man fighting a woman in boxing must never be accepted, regardless of gender change,” he declared. “We want to approach this with honesty and the right decisions; there should be no room for doubt. Transgender people who are woman to man or man to woman will never be permitted to battle against their biological gender.”
The well-known female boxer and previous IBF bantamweight world champion Ébanie “Blonde Bomber” Bridges didn’t hold back when discussing the contentious decision, stating:
I wonder if the ladies in the USA boxing community who consented to this were women who had previously sparred with a man of the same size who didn’t hold back on them and experienced the difference in punch resistance, power, and speed. And that’s wearing bulky gloves and headgear. I seriously doubt it—probably just some c*nuts who haven’t even boxed
