History
The first "Olympic" boxing tournament was held in conjunction with the 1904 Games at St. Louis. However, it took place well after athletes from Europe had gone home and, although it was theoretically open to amateurs from any country, only U. S. boxers competed. As a result, there's a great deal of doubt whether the winners should be considered true Olympic champions.
Boxing was an official Olympic event in 1908. After skipping 1912, the sport has been on every Olympic program since 1920.
Since 1936, the International Amateur Boxing Association has awarded the Val Barker Cup to the Olympic boxer displaying the best style and technique. Bal Barker was the first general-secretary of the association.
Competitors take part in a single-elimination tournament with no seeding. Through 1948, the boxers who lost in the semi-final were matched in a fight for the bronze medal. Since 1952, bronze medals have been awarded to both semi-final losers.
There are five judges for an Olympic bout. Through 1988, a majority vote of the judges determined the outcome. A computerized scoring system was adopted in 1992. Under that system, a judge is supposed to press a button to record each punch landed by a fighter and, if three of the five judges agree, that fighter is awarded a point. If the fight ends in a tie, the high and low scores are dropped and the scores of the three remaining judges are added.
Bouts consisted of three 3-minute rounds until 2000, when the format was changed to four 2-minute rounds.
Weight limits have changed from time to time. The limits shown are those in effect at the 2004 Olympics, when the number of classifications was cut from 12 to 11 with the elimination of the light middleweight class.
The following abbreviations are used in the tables below:
- Dec = Decision
- Dsq = Disqualification
- KO = Knockout
- Pts = Points
- Ret = Retirement
- RS = Referee stopped contest
- TB = Tie Breaker
- WO = Walkover
Weight limits have changed several times through the years. The limits shown are those used at the 2000 Olympics.