Did you know Cuba ranks only behind the United States in terms of winning the most medals in boxing? Yep, that’s absolutely true—the country is filled with boxing talent! In fact, the island nation has won 48 gold medals and 78 overall, but from women’s boxing, the tally is still zero. However, that may change in the distant future.

According to Boxing Kingdom, the Republic of Cuba has, for the first time, allowed female boxers to compete in the sport of boxing at the Olympics level. When women’s boxing was originally included in the Olympics back in 2012, Cuba declined to send any female fighters, fearing how the sport may affect their health. 

But in late 2022, the country lifted restrictions from women to compete internationally, though they were allowed to train for the sport up until 2022. This opened up venues for the female boxers in the country to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympics. They competed in the boxing Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Busto Arsizio, Italy, starting on 3rd March.

But sadly, Boxing Kingdom reported, “No fighters qualified for Paris”. Despite this initial setback for the women in the country, chances are more talent will eventually come to compete in the Olympics abroad. This will result in a lot of them filtering into the pro ranks—overall great news for the sport and also for the Cuban female boxers.

While you won’t get to see female fighters in the Olympics this year, here’s a preview of the Boxing schedule slated to unfold in Paris.

Road to Paris Olympics 2024 for boxing

According to sources, there will be a total of 249 fighters in the Olympics, 125 male and 124 female, who will compete from 27th July to August 10th. Believe it or not, initially, there were over 2000 fighters from 179 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competing to qualify for the mega event in Paris over the last two years, consisting of 2115 bouts.

There will be 13 different weight classes, 7 for men and 6 for women, in the fights, which will unfold in the famous Roland-Garros Stadium, known for staging the French Open. Some fights will also take place in the North Paris Arena at Villepinte. You can catch the action on NBC in the United States, and Discovery Eurosport across Europe. 

Some big names that are being touted ahead of the games are British super heavyweight Delicious Orie, USA’s Joshua Edwards, Brazilian Pan American Games champion Beatriz Ferreira, Cuba’s Julio Cesar La Cruz, double Olympic champion Arlen Lopez, and Cindy Ngamba, who secured her spot in the Olympics in March this year.

Having said that, it’s a bittersweet moment for Cuban female boxers, as they are allowed to fight in the Olympics now, but failed to qualify. However, in the next games in 2028, they stand a good chance of making it to the games. Will you be watching this year’s fights?