What are the World Boxing Championships?
The World Boxing Championships are the elite world championships of World Boxing, contested by men and women in Olympic-style boxing. At the first edition World Boxing announced "10 weight classes for men and women with 80 medals being handed out", each class crowning one world champion.[2] The federation's competitions page lists the championships alongside its U19 World Boxing Championships and the World Boxing Cup series, which are separate events.[1]
Who organizes the World Boxing Championships?
World Boxing organises and awards the championships; it announced the choice of Astana as host of the 2027 edition after its Executive Board meeting of 12 December 2024.[3] On 26 February 2025 the IOC Executive Board granted World Boxing "provisional recognition as the International Federation (IF) within the Olympic Movement governing the sport of boxing at world level", as World Boxing reported the decision.[4] World Boxing then reported that the 144th IOC Session had decided "to include boxing on the sports programme of the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 (LA28)".[5] A different body, the International Boxing Association (IBA), runs its own world championships; on 22 June 2023 England Boxing reported that the IOC had that day decided, upon the recommendation of the IOC Executive Board, to withdraw the recognition of the IBA.[6] The IBA Men's World Boxing Championships Dubai 2025 ran from 30 November to 13 December 2025 in 13 weight categories, according to the IBA.[7]
When and where are they held?
World Boxing has held the championships once and has awarded the next edition two years later. The first edition ran at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool from 4 to 14 September 2025.[1][13] World Boxing announced on 13 December 2024 that Astana, Kazakhstan, had been selected for the 2027 championships; the LA28 qualification system (version as of 6 May 2026) dates the event to April 2027, and on 27 September 2026 it had not yet taken place.[3][8]
| Season | Pool / Format | Host cities |
|---|---|---|
| 2027 | Men and women; LA28 qualification event | Astana, Kazakhstan — April 2027 — upcoming |
| 2025 | 10 weight classes for men, 10 for women | Liverpool, England — M&S Bank Arena, 4–14 September 2025 |
Season, the programme, and host city with dates, from World Boxing's competitions page and Executive Board announcements; the April 2027 date is from the LA28 qualification system.[1] World Boxing has held one edition; the IBA's world championships are a separate series and are not listed here.
Since when do they exist?
World Boxing states: "The first Elite World Boxing Championships for men and women were held in Liverpool, England, from 4–14 September 2025."[1] Before Liverpool, the federation's first global championships were at youth level: its competitions page records the U19 World Boxing Championships in Colorado Springs, USA, in October 2024.[1] The world championships held under the IBA, and before it under AIBA, are that body's series and are not counted as editions of World Boxing's championships.
How do boxers qualify?
Boxers are entered by their national federations, which must belong to World Boxing: the LA28 boxing qualification system (version as of 6 May 2026) requires athletes to "Be affiliated and in good standing with World Boxing."[8] The same document lists the 2027 World Boxing Championships, in April 2027, as a qualification event, with 22 quota places for women and 22 for men across the seven Olympic weight categories per gender, allocated as follows: "The highest ranked eligible athletes based on the number of quota places available per weight category, as outlined in Tables 1 and 2, in the seven women's and seven men's weight categories will be allocated one quota place, respecting the maximum quota per gender per NOC."[8] Continental qualifiers and two world qualification tournaments follow. See Olympic qualification.
Why do they matter?
The measurable proxies are the Olympic role and the size of the field. The 2027 edition carries 44 of the LA28 quota places, out of a total athlete quota of 248.[8] For Liverpool 2025 World Boxing announced that "540 boxers from 66 countries will take part in the inaugural World Boxing Championships".[2] The federation's closing report records that the competition ended with the "520th and final bout" on 14 September 2025.[13] World Boxing reported on 27 May 2026 that it "now has 180 member National Federations made-up of 123 'Full Members', one 'Associate Member' and 56 'Endorsed Members'."[9]
Who competes?
The field is national teams of senior men and women entered by World Boxing member federations; at Liverpool 2025 the federation's pre-event figure was 540 boxers from 66 countries.[2] On 30 May 2025 World Boxing announced that it "will introduce mandatory sex testing, to determine the eligibility of male and female athletes that want to take part in its competitions."[12]
On 28 April 2026 World Boxing confirmed an AIN (Individual Neutral Athletes) procedure, approved by its Executive Board, for boxers from Russia and Belarus: "Boxers will appear with AIN on their vests and not RUS or BLR", after checks on their record of support for the war in Ukraine.[10] On 12 May 2026 World Boxing announced that the Executive Board had decided that the AIN policy "will no longer be applied to Belarus".[11] See national suspensions and neutral athletes.
References
- World Boxing — Competitions. Accessed 2026-09-27.
- World Boxing — World Boxing Championships draw announced (3 September 2025). Accessed 2026-09-27.
- World Boxing — Executive Board selects hosts for 2025 World Boxing Cup series and 2027 World Boxing Championships (13 December 2024). Accessed 2026-09-27.
- World Boxing — Response to the IOC Executive Board decision to grant provisional Olympic recognition (26 February 2025). Accessed 2026-09-27.
- World Boxing — World Boxing welcomes decision by IOC to include boxing at LA28 (20 March 2025). Accessed 2026-09-27.
- England Boxing — International Olympic Committee withdraws recognition of IBA (22 June 2023). Accessed 2026-09-27.
- IBA — IBA Men's World Boxing Championships Dubai 2025. Accessed 2026-09-27.
- World Boxing — Qualification System LA28, Boxing (version as of 6 May 2026). Accessed 2026-09-27.
- World Boxing — Endorsement of four new applications takes membership to 180 National Federations (27 May 2026). Accessed 2026-09-27.
- World Boxing — Details of AIN procedure for boxers from Russia and Belarus (28 April 2026). Accessed 2026-09-27.
- World Boxing — World Boxing lifts athlete neutrality restrictions on Belarus (12 May 2026). Accessed 2026-09-27.
- World Boxing — World Boxing to introduce mandatory sex testing (30 May 2025). Accessed 2026-09-27.
- World Boxing — Kazakhstan tops the medal table at the inaugural World Boxing Championships 2025 (14 September 2025). Accessed 2026-09-27.