Male-born competitors will now be able to compete in women’s fights based on gender identity starting on Monday, but they will still need to make significant progress first.
The national governing body, USA Boxing, added a trans policy to its 2024 rule book, allowing biological males 18 and older to compete against women as long as they identify as women, maintain low testosterone levels, and have undergone gender reassignment surgery.
The rule book, which was published on Friday, did not specify which surgeries might be necessary, but the sports website OutKick made the assumption that “the men have to chop off their junk.”
Only a small portion of transgender men and women have what is euphemistically referred to as middle surgery, so USA Boxing’s updated eligibility requirements are likely to keep the vast majority of these athletes out of the women’s ring.
According to USA Boxing in a statement, “The goal of this policy is to provide justice and safety for all athletes.”
However, proponents of single-sex girls’ and women’s sports have criticized rules allowing male-born boxers to compete against women under any circumstances, claiming that doing so puts female fighters at risk of suffering serious physical harm.
Concerned Women for America spokesperson Macy Petty wrote on X, “USA Boxing to allow men to beat women on cameras, under lights, with fans cheering.”
“They’re going to inspire men cosplaying as women to beat women to death in the ring,” said conservative commentator Dana Loesch. “No more USA Boxing in my house, please.”
The International Olympic Committee ruled in November 2021 that each sport’s global governing bodies must set their own trans procedures, according to USA Boxing, which developed its policy as a result.
“This means that the eligibility for each sport is determined by the international federation,” according to USA Boxing. “The health of all boxers and fair competition among all boxers are USA Boxing’s underlying goals because the IF has no determined transgender enrollment and boxing is regarded as a combat sport.”
USA Boxing has implemented a new Transgender policy that allows female boxers who have transitioned to compete in the adult category under certain restrictions. twitter.com/kS9gzLu4Ih
30 December 2023, Happy Punch (@HappyPunch)
According to the newly announced principles, boxers under the age of 18 must compete based on their gender at birth. Male-to-female trans athletes would need to have surgery at age 18 and report their estrogen testing results to USA Boxing for at least four years afterward.
Additionally, before competing, players would need to maintain a serum testosterone level below 5 nmol/L for at least 48 weeks.
According to the policy, “Compliance with these conditions may be monitored by testing at the expense of the athlete.” The athlete’s eligibility to compete in female competitions may be suspended for a full year in the event of noncompliance. Therefore, hormone levels will need to be tested.
Boxers who are female to male must identify their gender identity as male, have gender-reassignment surgery, and then undergo hormone testing for four years. Prior to the competition, they would also need to maintain testosterone levels in blood above 10 nmol/L for at least 48 weeks.
Last month, American amateur boxer Katia Bissonnette withdrew from a championship match in Quebec after learning, according to Reduxx, an hour before the match that her opponent, Mya Walmsley, was transgender.
Bissonnette cited a study from the University of Utah from 2020 that found that, even after mass is taken into account, men punch 163% harder than women.
Bissonnette was criticized in a statement by Walmsley, who was automatically declared the winner, for going to the internet rather than “turning to me, my coach, or the Quebec Olympic Boxing Federation for more information.”
According to Walmsley, “athletes at risk of being excluded or receiving special treatment based on hearsay” engage in this type of behavior.
