Amanda Serrano slams decision to allow transgender women to box against females
Amanda Serrano is among a number of boxers who have criticised a new 'Transgender Policy' that will allow male boxers who transition to fight in the female category.
USA Boxing, the governing body which oversees America's amateur and Olympic-style boxing, will allow transgender athletes to fight in the category of their choice if they meet specific criteria. Both male and female transgender athletes must undergo quarterly hormone testing and provide the governing body with documentation of their hormone levels for a minimum of four years following surgery.
The policy, which is not in place for professional boxing, has been slammed by several big names in female boxing such as Serrano and Mikaela Mayer. "Make it make sense. Women who were born women can’t compete against women under the same rules as men according to the WBC. But men can identify as a woman, transition and then fight us women? All I want is equal opportunity for all. Our bodies. Our decision," Serrano tweeted.
Serrano was stripped of her world title by the WBC despite beating Danila Ramos earlier this month because of the governing body's refusal to sanction female boxing matches at her desired 12 x three-minute rounds. Female world title fights are sanctioned as 10 x two-minute rounds but Serrano's calls for equality in boxing saw her fight Ramos over 12 x three-minute rounds.
Mayer, a former unified super-featherweight world champion, wrote of the transgender policy: "Hormone therapy is banned. By default this should make trans athletes ineligible for competition. Period. Doesn’t matter how you feel about the situation, fact is, it’s illegal and completely disrupts the even level playing field that sport works so hard to create."
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Boxers who have transitioned from male to female must evidence their total testosterone serum level has been below 5 nmol/L for at least 48 months prior to their first competition. Boxers who have transitioned from female to male must show their total testosterone serum level has been above 1O nmol/L for at least 48 months prior to their first competition.
Transgender athletes such as swimmer Lia Thomas and weightlifter Lia Hubbard have sparked conversations about level playing fields in sport after their transitions. Former bantamweight world titleholder Ebanie Bridges also spoke out about the new policy by stating she would never agree to it.
"I don’t care about 'political correctness; it’s politically incorrect to have a man fighting a woman and that’s exactly what it is. This society is too soft, this is our health and safety. The girls need to stick together or women’s sport in 50 years will be filled with male born champions," she tweeted.
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman addressed transgender athletes competing in boxing last year when he told The Telegraph: "In boxing, a man fighting a woman must never be accepted regardless of gender change. There should be no grey area around this, and we want to go into it with transparency and the correct decisions."
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