US Olympic Boxing Trials, national championships coming to the Cajundome
LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) -- The Olympic Games in Paris don't start until July, but local fans can get a taste of Olympic Spirit right here in Lafayette starting next week.
The Cajundome will host the US Olympic Boxing Team Trials and national championships from Dec. 4-9, with winners taking a step toward Olympic glory. The two tournaments will be held simultaneously.
A total of 248 boxers from around the world will compete in boxing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, with 124 women and 124 men taking part. Team USA can qualify 13 boxers to Paris, with six women (one per event) and seven men (one per event) able to compete.
Competition for the Olympic Trials will begin Monday, Dec. 4 at 6 p.m. and will conclude with the 13 championship bouts on Saturday, Dec. 9 starting at noon. With five boxers already qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, eight weight classes are still to determine who the boxer will be to represent Team USA at next year’s World Qualifiers with hopes to punch their ticket to Paris.
The female side of the brackets includes six weight classes and boxers with their eyes on trying to move on with the Olympic process. Women compete in the light flyweight (110 lbs.), bantamweight (119), featherweight (125), lightweight (132), welterweight (146) and middleweight (165) divisions. More information on the women's tournament, including the brackets announced by USA Boxing on Thursday, can be found here.
The men's Olympic tournament competition includes the flyweight (112), featherweight (125), light welterweight (139), light middleweight (156), light heavyweight (176), heavyweight (203) and super heavyweight (204+) divisions. The brackets for the men's tournament have yet to be announced.
The 2023 USA Boxing National Championships will see boxers in the bantam (10-11 years old), intermediate (12-13 years old), junior (14-15 years old), youth (16-17 years old) and elite non-Olympic weight classes (18-39 years old) divisions step into one of the four rings during the week-long event. Competition for the National Championships will kick off on Monday, Dec. 4 at noon, and run daily until Thursday at noon and 6:00 p.m., with finals taking place Friday, Dec. 8 at noon.
Tickets for the event can be purchased at will call, starting at $10 daily or $50 for a weekly pass, while Saturday’s championship bouts cost $25.