Women’s boxing reaches 40% of entries across major 2026 events

Women accounted for 503 of the 1,271 athlete entries at four major World Boxing events in 2026, representing about 40% of participation. The figures show increased involvement in competition, although women remain less represented in technical and leadership roles.

The four events were World Boxing Cups in Brazil and China, the World Boxing Futures Cup and Glasgow 2026. Women made up 42% of the 324 boxers in Brazil, 40% of the 279 athletes in China and 39% of the 467 competitors at the Futures Cup.

The progress is also evident in Olympic boxing. Tokyo 2020 had five women’s and eight men’s weight categories, with 102 women and 187 men competing. At Paris 2024, the programme moved to six women’s and seven men’s categories, with 124 athletes of each gender. Both the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games and LA28 are set to provide further balance, with Dakar confirming 60 male and 60 female boxers and LA28 planning seven categories for each gender.

Glasgow 2026 became the first Commonwealth Games to offer the same number of boxing weight categories for men and women. World Boxing also agreed in 2024 that its competitions would contain 10 categories for both men and women. In 2025, women represented 426 of 1,029 entries across four major World Boxing competitions, including 213 competitors at the inaugural World Boxing Championships in Liverpool.

Representation inside the organisation is developing at a slower rate. Women hold 22 of 74 positions across the executive board, committees, commissions and office staff, equal to 30%. They make up 57% of the Sport and Competition Committee, half of the Ethics Committee and Athletes Committee, and 50% of office staff. However, only four of the 17 executive board members are women, while the Finance and Audit Committee is 14% female, the Coaches Commission 17% and the Medical Committee 18%. The Remuneration Commission has no women.

Technical officiating remains a key gap. Across five major events between February and July 2026, women held 68 of 268 technical-official positions, or roughly 25%, with event-level representation ranging from 22% to 26%. World Boxing’s Gender Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Commission, chaired by Dinah Glykidis, has identified coaching, officiating and decision-making as priorities and will work with stakeholders on measurable ways to improve progression beyond the ring.