Making an Olympic boxing team for Paris 2024 required years of dedication from the athletes, and once the process began in earnest, it was as complex and gruelling as the sport itself.
From the middle of 2023, qualifying competitions began for all continents. These events included the Asian Games, European Games, Pacific Games, and the Pan Am Games.
This year, two World Qualification Tournaments for Paris 2024 took place in Italy (March) and Thailand (May). These were direct qualifiers, with the first event offering 49 places to 670 boxers from 113 nations. The latter was the final chance to qualify and offered a similar amount of quotas.
In January, the U.K. held the GB Open via the World Cup of Boxing to give the nation’s outstanding participants a better chance of qualifying. More than 20 boxers from the U.K. participated in what was considered a warm-up event.
The Sporting News looks into other details surrounding boxer qualification for Paris 2024.
How many boxers will compete at Paris 2024?
There will be 249 boxers (125 male and 124 female) competing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
How are boxers ranked at Paris 2024?
There are no rankings. In each weight classification, seeding positions will be based on results from qualifying competition and a random draw.
Which boxers qualified for Team USA?
Team USA will be one of the preeminent boxing groups at Paris 2024, and will capture much of the attention.
In October, four boxers qualified following successful performances at the Santiago 2023 Pan Am Games. The names were Jajaira Gonzalez (Glendora, Calif.), Jahmal Harvey (Oxon Hill, Md.), Jennifer Lozano (Laredo, Texas) and Morelle McCane (Cleveland, Ohio).
In April, four more fighters qualified after medaling at the 2024 USA Boxing Invitational in Pueblo, Colorado. Those fighters were Joshua Edwards (Houston, Texas), Omari Jones (Orlando, Florida), Roscoe Hill (Springs, Texas) and Alyssa Mendoza (Caldwell, Id.)
All fighters were required to compete in the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Team Trials, qualifying and prequalifying competition events.
MORE: Is Manny Pacquiao boxing at the Olympics?
Can professional boxers qualify for the Olympics?
In a controversial call, the IOC first allowed professional boxers to compete in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, so the answer is yes.
Many felt this decision could negatively impact amateur boxing, if not destroy it completely. Amateur boxers contest three rounds of three minutes with large gloves and headgear, whereas world-class professionals fight twelve three-minute rounds with small gloves and no headgear.
In 2016, both the IBF and the WBC issued press releases stating that they would ban professional fighters from their ratings if they competed at the Rio Games. The decision remains unpopular in 2024.
Earlier this year, former eight-weight world champion and boxing legend Manny Pacquiao, 45, was refused a place at Paris 2024. The IOC declined his application to represent the Philippines because he was five years over the age threshold.