The International Olympic Committee has announced the historic decision to have gender parity across weight classes for the first time ever at LA28.

Following the IOC’s decision to restore boxing to the programme for the Games in Los Angeles, they have now confirmed how the competition will look.

And the most significant change will be that both men’s and women’s boxing will have seven different weight classes, with an equal share of 124 qualification places each.

For the first two Olympics where women’s boxing was included, at London 2012 and Rio 2016, there were just three weight classes: flyweight, lightweight and middleweight.

This was extended to five at Tokyo 2020 with the addition of featherweight and middleweight before it became six in Paris 2024 when bantamweight was included.

Now, they have added a 70kg light-middleweight division, which sits between welterweight (65kg) and the heavyweight class in the women’s competition, middleweight (75kg).

The men’s competition, meanwhile, will run from 55kg bantamweight through seven divisions, finishing at the 90kg+ super-heavyweights. Also included is lightweight (60kg), welterweight (65kg), light-middleweight (70kg), light heavyweight (80kg) and heavyweight (90kg).

Of the decision from the IOC, the president of World Boxing Boris van der Vorst said: said: “Boxing is an inclusive sport that is open to everyone and we welcome the decision by the IOC to create parity in the number of weight classes for men and women at LA28.

“This will be a significant milestone for the sport and is a sign of the enormous progress that has been made in women’s boxing since it was first included in the Olympic programme at London 2012, where there were three weight categories.

“World Boxing is committed to playing a positive role within the Olympic Movement and we look forward to working closely with the IOC to deliver a boxing competition that will be a fantastic platform for our male and female competitors and showcase all that is great about our sport.”