The International Boxing Association have announced that there will be thirteen new weight classes at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
There will be seven new weight categories for the men and six for women.
The new recognised Olympic weight categories are: 50kgs, 54kgs, 57kgs, 60kgs, 66kgs and 75kgs for the women and for the men’s 51kgs, 57kgs, 63.5kgs, 71kgs, 80kgs, 92kgs and 92&kgs.
Rather surprisingly the always competitive men’s welterweight and middleweight classes have been merged into one single 71kgs division from its original 75kg and 69 kg classes.
The inclusion of more women’s weight classes since London 2012 have been welcomed by female boxing.
Despite the restructuring of the Olympic boxing classes divisions, it has still a long way to go to regain its place in the IOC program of the games as the International Amateur Athletic Association (IBA) has several reforms that it plans to implement to improve its governance and financial integrity.
SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa had an illustrious history at the Olympics since first participating in 1920, winning six gold, four silver and nine bronze medals and in 1948 George Hunter won the Val Barker Cup for the best boxer at the Games.
Due to politics, South Africa was banned from participating after the 1960 Olympics.
South African amateur fighters, which included black fighters who were prejudiced by not being allowed to represent South Africa from 1920, were left out in the cold and amateur boxing suffered.
South Africa was readmitted to the Olympics in 1992 when the Games were held in Barcelona, Spain, and for the first time black South African fighters could be selected.
Unfortunately, in Barcelona, Spain, in 1992 and Atlanta, USA, in 1996, the South Africans failed badly with no representatives going beyond the second round in the competition.
At the 2000 Sydney Olympics the South African representatives, Phumzile Matyhila, Jeffrey Mathebula and Danie Venter, were all eliminated in the second series.
At the 2004 Games in Athens the three South African representatives failed to progress beyond the first round.
South Africa's sole representative at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, flyweight Jackson van Tonder Chauke was eliminated in the first series when he was beaten 9-1 by Anvar Yunusov from Tajikistan.
South Africa had two representatives at the 2012 London Olympics, bantamweight, Ayabonga Sonjica and welterweight, Siphiwe Lusizi.
Sonjica was well beaten by Detelin Dalakliev of Bulgaria who scored a comprehensive 15-6 victory as he dictated the pace from the onset.
The 23-year-old Siphiwe Lusizi controlled his first bout with the inexperienced Iraqi Ahmed Abdulkareem Ahmed, hitting his target with some good combinations before reverting to some slick counterpunches as Ahmed came forward. The southpaw looked at ease, dominating each round to cruise to a 17:13 victory.
However, in his second fight he was eliminated from the competition by Venezuela's Gabriel Maestre Perez and was soundly beaten 18-13.
Rather sadly no South African boxers qualified for the 2016 Olympics held in Rio, Brazil or for the most recent 2020 Olympic Games held in Tokyo.
A recent report stated that Sanabo’s plans to make a concerted effort to get local amateur boxers ready for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
However, this is not that easy as the local fighters must qualify through Africa which could provide stiff opposition.