Boxing

Facts

Discipline of Boxing
Participants 5491
NOCs 181
Competitions held 265 (Venues)
Distinct events 32
IF International Boxing Association, Federation Internationale de Boxe Amateur, Internationaler Kraftsportverband

Description

Boxing was contested at the Ancient Olympic Games and many other sporting festivals in Ancient Greece. Boxing was then an even more brutal sport, as the combatants wore leather thongs on their hands. Originally, the thongs were simple straps of leather, but later they were reinforced with sharp pieces of metal, and the glove was called a cestus. The first known Ancient Olympic boxing champion was Onomastos, of Smyrna, who won in 688 BCE. The last known was Varasdates, of Armenia, in 369 CE, who was one of the last known champions of the Ancient Olympic Games. Professional boxing has been around since the early 18th century, with a recognized list of professional champions dating from the late 1700s.

Boxing made its first Olympic appearance at St. Louis 1904. All the entrants were Americans and the event doubled as the AAU Championships for that year. Boxing was again contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. In 1912, boxing could not be on the Olympic Program because the sport required special permits in Sweden at that time. Since 1920, boxing has been on the program of every Olympic Games.

The United States was originally the premier nation in Olympic boxing. However, in the last 30 years, it was surpassed, by first the Soviet Union and, more recently, by Cuba. However, the USA still leads the medal table with 117 medals and 50 golds, followed by Cuba, with 78 medals and 41 golds.

Three male boxers have won three Olympic gold medals: László Papp, of Hungary, and Teófilo Stevenson and Félix Savón, of Cuba. Great Britain’s Nicola Adams and American Claressa Shields lead the women’s classification, both with two golds.

A number of Olympic boxers have gone on to become professional World Champions, notably Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali), George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Sugar Ray Leonard, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Volodymyr Klychko, Oscar De La Hoya, and Lennox Lewis.

Amateur boxing is governed by the International Boxing Association (IBA), which was originally called the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur (AIBA), founded on 29 and 30 November 1946. Although the change happened in 2007, the association still used the acronym AIBA until December 2021, when it was rebranded to IBA. As of 2022, the IBA has 205 member federations.

AIBA succeeded the Fédération Internationale de Boxe Amateur (FIBA), that was founded on 24 August 1920 in Antwerpen, during the Olympics, with eleven founding members: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland, Sweden, and the United States. Before having its own organization, boxing was governed together with tug-of-war, weight throwing, weightlifting, and wrestling in the Amateur Athleten Weltunion (1905-1907) and later in the Internationaler Weltverband für Schwerathletik (1913-1920).

All-time medal table

Olympic Games

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
United States USA 50 27 40 117
Cuba CUB 41 19 18 78
Great Britain GBR 20 15 27 62
Italy ITA 15 15 18 48
Soviet Union URS 14 19 18 51
Russian Federation RUS 10 5 15 30
Hungary HUN 10 2 8 20
Poland POL 8 9 26 43
Argentina ARG 7 7 10 24
Kazakhstan KAZ 7 7 10 24
France FRA 6 9 10 25
South Africa RSA 6 4 9 19
Germany GER 5 12 12 29
Bulgaria BUL 5 5 9 19
Uzbekistan UZB 5 2 8 15
East Germany GDR 5 2 6 13
Thailand THA 4 4 7 15
Ukraine UKR 4 4 7 15
Republic of Korea KOR 3 7 10 20
Canada CAN 3 7 7 17
Ireland IRL 3 5 10 18
People's Republic of China CHN 3 5 6 14
Yugoslavia YUG 3 2 6 11
Czechoslovakia TCH 3 1 2 6
Japan JPN 3 0 5 8
Mexico MEX 2 3 8 13
Democratic People's Republic of Korea PRK 2 3 3 8
Brazil BRA 2 2 4 8
Finland FIN 2 1 13 16
Romania ROU 1 9 15 25
Denmark DEN 1 5 6 12
Türkiye TUR 1 3 3 7
Venezuela VEN 1 3 2 6
Netherlands NED 1 2 5 8
Mongolia MGL 1 2 4 7
Norway NOR 1 2 2 5
Kenya KEN 1 1 5 7
ROC ROC 1 1 4 6
Belgium BEL 1 1 2 4
New Zealand NZL 1 1 2 4
Algeria ALG 1 0 5 6
West Germany FRG 1 0 5 6
Dominican Republic DOM 1 0 1 2
Sweden SWE 0 5 6 11
Philippines PHI 0 4 4 8
Nigeria NGR 0 3 3 6
Uganda UGA 0 3 1 4
Spain ESP 0 2 2 4
Belarus BLR 0 2 0 2
Azerbaijan AZE 0 1 8 9
Puerto Rico PUR 0 1 5 6
Australia AUS 0 1 4 5
Colombia COL 0 1 4 5
Ghana GHA 0 1 3 4
Chile CHI 0 1 2 3
Egypt EGY 0 1 2 3
Cameroon CMR 0 1 1 2
Unified Team EUN 0 1 1 2
Australasia ANZ 0 1 0 1
Czechia CZE 0 1 0 1
Estonia EST 0 1 0 1
Tonga TGA 0 1 0 1
Morocco MAR 0 0 4 4
India IND 0 0 3 3
Armenia ARM 0 0 2 2
Republic of Moldova MDA 0 0 2 2
Tunisia TUN 0 0 2 2
Bermuda BER 0 0 1 1
Chinese Taipei TPE 0 0 1 1
Croatia CRO 0 0 1 1
Georgia GEO 0 0 1 1
Guyana GUY 0 0 1 1
Lithuania LTU 0 0 1 1
Mauritius MRI 0 0 1 1
Niger NIG 0 0 1 1
Pakistan PAK 0 0 1 1
Syrian Arab Republic SYR 0 0 1 1
Tajikistan TJK 0 0 1 1
United Arab Republic UAR 0 0 1 1
Uruguay URU 0 0 1 1
Zambia ZAM 0 0 1 1

Youth Olympic Games

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
Cuba CUB 5 1 0 6
Russian Federation RUS 3 2 1 6
Great Britain GBR 3 0 3 6
Kazakhstan KAZ 2 3 1 6
Uzbekistan UZB 2 2 4 8
Italy ITA 2 2 1 5
Thailand THA 2 2 1 5
United States USA 2 1 1 4
Brazil BRA 2 0 1 3
Germany GER 2 0 0 2
Lithuania LTU 2 0 0 2
Azerbaijan AZE 1 2 1 4
Ukraine UKR 1 2 0 3
Ireland IRL 1 1 2 4
Australia AUS 1 1 1 3
Bulgaria BUL 1 1 0 2
France FRA 1 1 0 2
People's Republic of China CHN 1 1 0 2
Argentina ARG 1 0 3 4
Poland POL 1 0 1 2
Puerto Rico PUR 1 0 1 2
Algeria ALG 0 2 0 2
Türkiye TUR 0 1 3 4
Croatia CRO 0 1 1 2
India IND 0 1 1 2
Japan JPN 0 1 1 2
Venezuela VEN 0 1 1 2
Chinese Taipei TPE 0 1 0 1
Colombia COL 0 1 0 1
Dominican Republic DOM 0 1 0 1
Mexico MEX 0 1 0 1
Morocco MAR 0 1 0 1
Nauru NRU 0 1 0 1
New Zealand NZL 0 1 0 1
Nigeria NGR 0 1 0 1
Egypt EGY 0 0 2 2
Hungary HUN 0 0 2 2
Armenia ARM 0 0 1 1
Republic of Moldova MDA 0 0 1 1
Sweden SWE 0 0 1 1
Turkmenistan TKM 0 0 1 1

Most successful competitors

Olympic Games

Athlete Nat Gold Silver Bronze Total
Félix Savón CUB 3 0 0 3
Teófilo Stevenson CUB 3 0 0 3
László Papp HUN 3 0 0 3
Oleg Saitov RUS 2 0 1 3
Boris Lagutin RUS
URS
2 0 1 3
Zou Shiming CHN 2 0 1 3
Roniel Iglesias CUB 2 0 1 3
Ariel Hernández CUB 2 0 0 2
Ángel Herrera CUB 2 0 0 2
Héctor Vinent CUB 2 0 0 2
Harry Mallin GBR 2 0 0 2
Jerzy Kulej POL 2 0 0 2
Oliver Kirk USA 2 0 0 2
Mario Kindelán CUB 2 0 0 2
Guillermo Rigondeaux CUB 2 0 0 2
Aleksey Tishchenko RUS 2 0 0 2
Vasyl Lomachenko UKR 2 0 0 2
Nicola Adams GBR 2 0 0 2
Robeisy Ramírez CUB 2 0 0 2
Julio César la Cruz CUB 2 0 0 2
Claressa Shields USA 2 0 0 2
Arlen López CUB 2 0 0 2

Youth Olympic Games

Athlete Nat Gold Silver Bronze Total
Evaldas Petrauskas LTU 1 0 0 1
Robeisy Ramírez CUB 1 0 0 1
Tony Yoka FRA 1 0 0 1
Damien Hooper AUS 1 0 0 1
Rüfət Hüseynov AZE 1 0 0 1
Leinier Peró CUB 1 0 0 1
Ablaykhan Zhusupov KAZ 1 0 0 1
Shakur Stevenson USA 1 0 0 1
Bektemir Melikuziyev UZB 1 0 0 1
David da Costa BRA 1 0 0 1
Irosvani Duverger CUB 1 0 0 1
Artur Bril GER 1 0 0 1
Ryan Burnett IRL 1 0 0 1
Ričardas Kuncaitis LTU 1 0 0 1
Emmanuel Rodríguez PUR 1 0 0 1
Chang Yuan CHN 1 0 0 1
Elżbieta Wójcik POL 1 0 0 1
Jajaira Gonzalez USA 1 0 0 1
Blagoy Naydenov BUL 1 0 0 1
Yordan Hernández CUB 1 0 0 1
Javier Ibáñez CUB 1 0 0 1
Peter Kadiru GER 1 0 0 1
Vincenzo Arecchia ITA 1 0 0 1
Ramil Hadzhyiev UKR 1 0 0 1
Brian Arregui ARG 1 0 0 1
Keno Marley BRA 1 0 0 1
Karol Itauma GBR 1 0 0 1
Ivan Price GBR 1 0 0 1
Aibek Oralbay KAZ 1 0 0 1
Aleksey Dronov RUS 1 0 0 1
Ilya Popov RUS 1 0 0 1
Atichai Phoemsap THA 1 0 0 1
Abdumalik Khalokov UZB 1 0 0 1
Caroline Dubois GBR 1 0 0 1
Martina La Piana ITA 1 0 0 1
Anastasiya Shamonova RUS 1 0 0 1
Panpatchara Somnuek THA 1 0 0 1

Event types

Name Gender Still contested? Times held?
Light-Flyweight Men 13
Flyweight Men 25
Bantamweight Men 25
Lightweight Men 26
Light-Welterweight Men 17
Welterweight Men 25
Middleweight Men 26
Light-Heavyweight Men 24
Heavyweight Men 26
Super-Heavyweight Men 10
Flyweight Women 3
Featherweight Women 1
Lightweight Women 3
Welterweight Women 1
Middleweight Women 3
Light-Flyweight Boys 2
Flyweight Boys 3
Bantamweight Boys 3
Featherweight Boys 1
Lightweight Boys 3
Light-Welterweight Boys 3
Welterweight Boys 3
Middleweight Boys 3
Light-Heavyweight Boys 3
Heavyweight Boys 3
Super-Heavyweight Boys 3
Flyweight Girls 2
Featherweight Girls 1
Lightweight Girls 2
Middleweight Girls 2
Featherweight Men 24
Light-Middleweight Men 13