Boxing

In boxing two gloved athletes fight with punches only; a bout is won on points, by knockout or by the referee's decision. Amateur bouts last three rounds, professional fights up to twelve.

History

Fist-fighting entered the ancient Olympic Games in 688 BC. The rules of modern boxing were written in England in 1867 as the Marquess of Queensberry Rules — gloves and three-minute rounds date from then. Boxing has been on the Olympic programme since 1904, and women's boxing made its debut at London 2012.

Major competitions

Amateurs: the Olympic Games, World and European Championships and the Asian Games. Professionals: the world-title belts of the four major bodies — WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO.

Boxing in the Turkic world

Hungary's László Papp was the first boxer to win three Olympic titles, in 1948, 1952 and 1956. Kazakh boxers have won Olympic gold again and again since independence: Vassiliy Jirov (1996), Bekzat Sattarkhanov and Yermakhan Ibraimov (2000), Bakhtiyar Artayev (2004), Bakhyt Sarsekbayev (2008), Serik Sapiyev (2012) and Daniyar Yeleussinov (2016). The Val Barker Trophy for the most stylish Olympic boxer went to Jirov, Artayev and Sapiyev.

Uzbek boxing has risen to the top of the world: three golds at Rio 2016 and five at Paris 2024, finishing first in the boxing medal table. Bakhodir Jalolov won the Olympic super-heavyweight title twice, in 2020 and 2024.

Türkiye's Busenaz Sürmeneli became the first Turkish woman to win Olympic boxing gold, at Tokyo 2020. In Azerbaijan, Teymur Mammadov won gold at the Baku 2015 European Games.

Famous Turkic boxers (professional)

Ruslan Chagaev (WBA heavyweight world champion, 2007), Gennady Golovkin (long-reigning middleweight world champion), Janibek Alimkhanuly (WBO and IBF middleweight champion), Murodjon Akhmadaliev (WBA and IBF champion, 2020) and Israil Madrimov (WBA champion, 2023).