World Boxing To Require Sex Testing Before World Championships

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On Wednesday, in advance of the World Boxing Championships to be held in Liverpool, England, the governing body for World Boxing announced plans to test for Y chromosome genetic material as a determinant of biological sex.

World Boxing president Boris Van Der Vorst issued a statement: “World Boxing respects the dignity of all individuals and is keen to ensure it is as inclusive as possible. Yet in a combat sport like boxing, we have a duty of care to deliver safety and competitiveness fairness… ” The new policy states that participants must “undergo a, once-in-a-lifetime, PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test or a functional medical equivalent genetic test to determine their sex at birth.”

The announcement of testing itself is not new, but the specifics are.

This past May, World Boxing had given a preview: “The introduction of mandatory testing will be part of a new policy on ‘Sex, Age and Weight’ to ensure the safety of all participants and deliver a competitive level playing field for men and women.” The statement also specifically mentioned Imane Khelif, who along with Lin Yu-ting from Taiwan, faced intense scrutiny about their “sex” after fiercely defeating the competition and claiming Gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Less than a week after the May announcement, Khelif decided to skip the fight in the Eindhoven Box Cup in the Netherlands. At the time, Eindhoven mayor Jeroen Dijsselbloem rose to her defense.

The athletes most targeted by World Boxing’s policy on ‘Sex Eligibility’ include those with DSD (Differences of Sexual Development which sometimes includes the category termed “Intersex”). Athletes with “Y chromosome genetic material (the SRY gene) or with a difference of sexual development (DSD) where male androgenization occurs”, will be eligible to compete only in the male category.

In reality, DSD’s do not always manifest as male androgenization. Variations in sexual development can include chromosomal, gonadal (ovaries or testes) or be expressed in genital differences, They can appear at birth, during puberty or later in adulthood, according to the Cleveland Clinic, which offers a range of DSD examples: “male chromosomes (XY) and genitalia that appears female (vulva) or female chromosomes (XX) and genitalia that appears male (penis). Some people with DSDs have characteristics of both sexes.”

The Boxing rule comes just weeks after the announcement by track and field’s World Athletics governing body, which reintroduced chromosome testing – abandoned years back – for athletes competing in the women’s events. Commenting on the new regulations, the organization’s President Sebastian Coe stated: “We are saying, at elite level, for you to compete in the female category, you have to be biologically female. It was always very clear to me and the World Athletics Council that gender cannot trump biology.”