Irish Amateur Boxing – Major International Calendar 2019
2019 is upon us and it promises to be a huge year for Irish amateur boxing and a provisional international fixture list has been released.
There are essentially 15 major (World, European, EU, Commonwealth) tournaments – 8 for women, 7 for men – that Irish boxers will compete in across the Elites, Under-22s, Youths (U18), Juniors (U16), and Schoolboys/girls (U14) categories.
Last year Irish boxers won 49 medals across 17 majors. In 2017 it was 29 medals from 10 majors,
With the Tokyo Olympics, hopefully, taking place next year, 2019 could be crucial in terms of qualification for the Games.
While AIBA are under investigation from the IOC, no pathway can be officially outlined but, should a favourable decision be reached this summer, it is assumed that the European Games will act as a qualifier for the World Championships where Olympic spots will be on offer – with the remainder of slots allocated through qualifiers next year.
In terms of the calendar itself, the Women’s World Championships will take place for a second year in a row, a hopefully permanent move that will see the tournament take place in odd-numbered years like with the men who swapped back in 2011. The same has also occurred for the Women’s European Championships.
However, as previously reported, there are actually no European Championships this year for the men, just the European Games. It is unclear as yet whether the tournament will take place next year or if scheduling constraints have merely forced us to miss out on an edition and instead skip straight to 2021.
Encouragingly, the EU Championships are on the agenda. The tournament ran annually from 2003 to 2009 before a break until 2014 and another break until last year.
Irish Boxing Major International calendar:
March 8th – March 117th
Men’s and Women’s European U22 Championships
Vladikavkaz, Russia
May (Date to be confirmed)
Men’s and Women’s European Junior Championships
Galati, Romania
May (Dates to be confirmed)
Men’s and Women’s European Union Elite Championships
France (City to be confirmed)
June 21st – June 30th
European Games (Boxing for Elite Men and Women)
Minsk, Belarus
July (Dates to be confirmed)
Women’s European Elite Championships
(Country and City to be confirmed)
August (Dates to be confirmed)
European Schoolboys/Girls Championships
(Country and City to be confirmed)
September 2nd – September 9th
Men’s and Women’s European Youth Championships
Sofia, Bulgaria
September 7th – September 21st
Men’s Elite World Championships
Sochi, Russia
October (Dates to be confirmed)
Women’s Elite World Championships
Ulan-Ude, Russia
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Correction: Contrary to what was initially published, there is no Commonwealth Youth tournament in Kenya this summer. This is an error o nthe AIBA’s schedule
