USA Boxing to allow transgender women to compete against female boxers under certain conditions from 2024 after introducing new policy

USA Boxing has adopted a “Transgender Policy,” which will allow male boxers who transition to fight in the female category starting in 2024.

The governing body, which oversees U.S. amateur and Olympic-style boxing, will allow transgender athletes to compete under certain conditions.

While boxers under the age of 18 must still compete according to their birth gender, transgender fighters are allowed to fight in the category of their choice.

They must meet certain criteria, including announcing their new gender identity, completing sex reassignment surgery and regular hormone testing.

Both male and female transgender athletes must have undergone quarterly hormone testing for a minimum of four years after surgery and provided US Boxing with documentation of their hormone levels.

USA Boxing is the governing body that oversees American amateur and Olympic-style boxing (Photo by Jennifer Lozano of Team United States at the 2023 Pan Am Games)

Boxers who have transitioned from male to female must demonstrate that their total serum testosterone level has been less than 5 nmol/L for at least 48 months prior to her first bout.

Their total serum testosterone level must remain below 5 nmol/l for the entire period in which they are eligible to participate in the female category.

Meanwhile, a male boxer must demonstrate that his total serum testosterone level has been above 10 nmol/l for at least 48 months prior to his first bout and maintain it above that level throughout his eligibility period.

USA Boxing announced the policy on Friday, saying in a statement: “The purpose of this policy is to provide fairness and safety to all boxers.”

USA Boxing took the step to implement the policy after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ruled in 2021 that each sport and its governing body has the responsibility to decide how athletes are disadvantaged compared to others.

Because Boxing's International Federation has yet to determine the eligibility of transgender boxers, USA Boxing said it has stepped in to issue its own ruling with the goal of “the safety of all boxers and fair competition among all boxers.”

Male boxer Patricio Manuel, who began transitioning as a man in 2013 by taking hormones and underwent top surgery a year later, made his professional boxing debut and in 2018 became the first transgender person in American history to do so.

Manuel had an amateur boxing career that included five national title wins and a tryout for the 2012 U.S. Olympic women's team. Earlier this year, he picked up his third straight professional win.

The new policy, announced Friday, specified conditions that athletes must meet

Male boxer Patricio Manuel became the first transgender person to make his professional boxing debut in U.S. history in 2018

Manuel had an amateur boxing career that included five national title wins and a tryout for the 2012 U.S. Olympic women's team

USA Boxing's policy comes as female athletes have spoken out in recent months about their “genuine fear” of competing against transgender women.

In October, female martial artists said they had withdrawn from a major competition because they felt “scared” and “unsafe” after being forced to fight against transgender women at previous tournaments.

Professional martial artist Jayden Alexander said she was “devastated” after fighting a transgender woman in July and had ruled herself out of future matches to avoid fighting again.

“The experience was horrible and frightening,” Alexander said in a recent social media post about the experience. “I was definitely in fight or flight mode and as a seasoned competitor I can honestly say I've never been there mentally before in a competition.

“In the coming months, when I started competing again, I had to exclude myself from a Jiu Jitsu world series and from an all-women's class at a NAGA to avoid competing with not one but two transmale athletes,” Alexander explained.

Over the summer, videos of female competitors competing against transgender challengers went viral, sparking protests over fairness and safety. Some noted that the transgender participants were much heavier than the female opponents.

Since then, the North American Grappling Association has changed its stance on transgender competitors.

Two transgender athletes took home medals at the Oct. 21 event, which was boycotted by several women

The policy had stated that women would not be forced to compete against transgender fighters, but several women said that was not the case and boycotted a late October tournament in Georgia.

Meanwhile, earlier this month, the House Subcommittee for Healthcare and Financial Services became the latest legislative body to address the controversy surrounding transgender athletes in women's sports.

The hearing took place as the Biden administration's education department pushes to amend Title IX to support the inclusion of trans athletes in women's sports.

But committee chair Lisa McClain (Republican-Michigan), former Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines, ex-Oberlin lacrosse coach Kim Russell and Sarah Parshall Perry of the Heritage Foundation testified in favor of a ban.