Boxing Preview
The boxing tournament at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be composed of 13 weight categories, eight for men and five for women. While Rio 2016 also had 13 weight categories, it featured 10 for men and three for women. The new men’s weight categories for these Games are:  fly (48 kg. to 52 kg.), feather (52 kg. to 57 kg.), light (57 kg. to 63 kg.), welter (63 kg. to 69 kg.), middle (69 kg. to 75 kg.), light heavy (75 kg. to 81 kg.), heavy (81 kg. to 91 kg.) and super heavy (91 kg. to +91 kg.). The women’s weight categories are: fly (48 kg. to 51 kg.), feather (54 kg. to 57 kg.), light (57 kg. to 60 kg.), welter (64 kg. to 69 kg.) and middle (69 kg. to 75 kg.). The 2020 Olympic Games will have an overall quota of 286 athletes being made up of 186 men and 100 women, compared to 250 men and 36 women at Rio 2016. 

Tokyo will mark just the third Olympic Games women’s boxing has been contested, with Team USA athletes winning three medals total between 2012 and 2016 – two golds and one bronze.

Updated on July 19, 2020. For more information, contact the sport press officer here.

Virginia Fuchs’ Comeback: Virginia (Houston, Texas), or Ginny as she is known by many, won the 2016 Olympic Trials for Boxing but missed qualifying to compete in Rio. Still named team captain, Fuchs attended the 2016 Games as a training partner. Not letting this disappoint her, she continued training with Tokyo 2020 in mind. In 2017, Ginny went undefeated, 18-0, and won 4 international gold medals, and then won bronze a year later that elite women’s world championships. Looking to 2019, Ginny was ready to have another successful year. However, her OCD, which she was diagnosed with in middle school, began to act up again, leading her to check into a rehabilitation center for March 2019. Once completed, Ginny returned to the ring in April, winning the 2019 Pan American Games Qualifier and silver medal at the 2019 Pan American Games. Fuchs continued her winning ways by taking gold at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Boxing and 2020 Strandja Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria. 

Naomi Graham: USA Boxing has had many boxers come with a military background. However, Naomi Graham (Fayetteville, North Carolina), 2018 elite women’s world championships bronze medalist and 2019 Pan American Games gold medalist, could become the first female to serve in the military and represent Team USA in the Olympic Games in boxing. The staff sergeant recently re-enlisted in June 2019. Graham, who is a member of the Army’s World Class Athlete Program joined the Army after spending some time homeless in her home state and was able to work her way onto the WCAP’s boxing team, and shortly after Team USA. No longer in the shadow of Shields, Graham has made a name for herself internationally, winning seven international medals since 2018, including gold at the 2019 Pan American Games and bronze at the 2018 Elite Women’s World Championships.

Putting Career Goals on Hold for Darius Fulghum: 
Darius Fulghum (Houston, Texas) began boxing in 2015, following a high school wrestling career. Fulghum made a quick rise to the top after being a surprise eight-seed winner at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Boxing, which surprised many, as he was fairly unknown. Darius himself says he was unknown, as he did not attend a lot of national tournaments prior to 2019, since he was working on getting his nursing degree. Fulghum graduated college in May 2019 and won the trials in December to earn a place onto USA Boxing’s Olympic Qualification Team. He now is putting his goals outside the ring on hold, with hopes of qualifying and medaling in Tokyo before returning to nursing. 

Virginia Fuchs (Houston, Texas)
The USA Boxing team captain from Houston, Texas, won the 2016 Olympic Trials for Boxing but failed to qualify to Rio 2016. Since Rio, Fuchs has won 8 international medals – six gold and two bronze. 

Richard Torrez Jr. (Tulare, California)
The second USA Boxing team captain, Torrez Jr. has been on many radars as a huge threat in the super heavyweight division. The 20-year-old has won numerous international tournaments, including the 2018 Chemistry Cup in his elite international debut, and the 2019 Strandja Tournament. Torrez Jr. is looking to be the first U.S. super heavyweight Olympic medalist since Riddick Bowe won silver in 1988. 

Keyshawn Davis (Norfolk, Virginia)
Keyshawn Davis has caught the eye of many in the boxing world for his skills and personality inside the ring. Davis has been one of the most successful members of Team USA leading into Tokyo, winning numerous international medals, including silvers at the 2019 Pan American Games and world championships. Davis has the opportunity to become the first American male gold medalist since Andre Ward won gold in 2004.

Oshae Jones (Toledo, Ohio)
Oshae Jones made history in 2019 with her gold-medal performance at the Pan American Games Lima 2019. Jones competed in the 69 kg. division in Lima, Peru, which was contested for the first time at the Pan American Games for female boxers. Jones will look to make history again, as her weight class is one of two new weight classes being contested in Tokyo. Jones also won gold medals at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Boxing and the 2020 Strandja Tournament.

Due to the impact of COVID-19 and the delay of the Tokyo Games, the American Olympic Qualification Event and the final World Olympic Qualification Event dates are still being determined and will be announced. 

USA Boxing’s Olympic Qualification Team was determined following a two-stage process, which started with the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Boxing. The second and final stage was the Final Olympic Qualification Team Selection, which was based on an evaluation process over the course of January, which included a training camp in Colorado Springs, Colorado and an international competition, which took place in Sofia, Bulgaria. Full selection procedures can be found here.

• TBD: Americas Olympic Qualification Event
• TBD: World Olympic Qualification Event