Parent's Guide to Boxing Canada Youth Boxing Ages 6-18 2025

Under Boxing Canada's Articles and Rules (January 2025):

• All boxers, including for club training and sparring, must be registered participants of Boxing Canada through a Provincial Organization.
• To compete, a boxer must present a Boxing Canada record book with the current year's registration number and a Boxing Canada medical form that is not older than 1 year, plus a current picture of the boxer at the front of the record book.
• Boxers must disclose all previous combat sports experience at registration or renewal, and report any further combat sport experience straight away.
• Technical officials checking weight at weigh-in must be the same gender as the boxers, and weigh-in must end no less than 3 hours before the first bout starts.
• Developmental bout boxers also complete a pre-bout physical and a post-bout physical.

The medical form is available on Boxing Canada's documents page: https://boxingcanada.org/documents/

Every bout is 3 rounds with a 1-minute rest between rounds (boxers must face the ring centre during the rest). Under Boxing Canada's Articles and Rules (January 2025), round length is:

Funbox bouts (ages 6-12) are 3 rounds of up to 1 minute.

Under Boxing Canada's Articles and Rules (January 2025):

• A Novice is a boxer who has competed in 10 bouts or fewer. A Novice who enters a Novice tournament with 10 bouts or fewer stays a Novice until the end of that tournament, even if the total goes past 10.
• An Open boxer has competed in more than 10 bouts, or has been upgraded.
• A Novice may be considered for Open competition by their Provincial Branch Executive if they have competed in at least 6 bouts as a Novice (four Developmental bouts count towards that total).
• Only Open boxers take part in National Championships.

Under Boxing Canada's Articles and Rules (January 2025):

• Weight (U13, U15, U17): maximum difference 3 kg if under 54 kg; 4 kg if over 54 kg and under 66 kg; 5 kg if over 66 kg and under 80 kg; no maximum if both are over 80 kg. Funbox: 3 kg.
• Weight (U19): boys and men under 90 kg, 5 kg; girls and women under 60 kg, 3 kg; between 60 kg and 80 kg, 5 kg; no maximum if both girls and women are over 80 kg or both boys and men are over 90 kg.
• Age (U13, U15, U17): a boxer may not be more than 24 months younger than the opponent. Funbox: maximum 12 months apart.
• Experience: Novice v Novice, maximum 7 bouts apart; Novice v Open, maximum 5 bouts apart. Open v Open has no limit. When a Novice boxes an Open boxer, the number and length of rounds are those of the Novice.
• Competing up: U13 boxers cannot compete in U15, U15 cannot compete in U17, and U17 cannot compete in U19.

Under Boxing Canada's Articles and Rules (January 2025):

• U13, U15 and U17: 10 oz gloves for all weight categories, men and women.
• U19 (Youth): 10 oz for men from 50 kg to 65 kg and for all women's categories; 12 oz for men from 70 kg to 90+ kg.
• Funbox: 10 oz for all weight categories.
• Developmental bouts: 10 oz for weight categories 28 kg to 60 kg; 16 oz for 65 kg to 90+ kg.

Gloves must be World Boxing or USA approved.

Under Boxing Canada's Articles and Rules (January 2025):

• Headguard: a red or blue open-face headguard matching the boxer's corner. Training headguards and headguards with cheek protectors are not allowed in U13, U15, U17 and U19 bouts. Headguards must be approved by World Boxing or USA Boxing.
• Funbox: headguards with cheek protectors may be worn as long as both boxers wear them.
• Gloves: must be World Boxing or USA approved.
• Handwraps: two stretchy cotton rolls 3.5-4.5 m long and 5.7 cm wide with a Velcro closure; one strand of tape may secure the wrap at the wrist. No other substance or material on the wrap or hand.
• Groin protector: required for male boxers. Female boxers may use a pelvic protector and may wear a breast protector.
• Long hair: a bandana, skull cap or hair net under the headguard.
• Other: kinesiology tape only from the waist down and on the back of the body; knee braces with no metal.
• Clothing: light boots or shoes without spikes or heels, socks, shorts not longer than knee length, and a vest covering the chest and back. At national championships the vest and shorts must be red or blue to match the corner.

Developmental bouts are non-competitive bouts at club shows and similar non-tournament events, with no ringside judges. Under Boxing Canada's rules:

• The event must be sanctioned, and the boxer must be registered with Boxing Canada.
• The boxer completes a weigh-in, a pre-bout physical and a post-bout physical.
• Maximum round length is 1 minute for ages 11-12, 1.5 minutes for ages 13-14, and 2 minutes for ages 15 and over.
• There is no decision. The referee raises both boxers' hands at the end, unless the bout was stopped by standing 8 counts (maximum 1 per round and 2 per bout).
• The bout is recorded in the passbook as "Dev Bout".
• Boxers are matched on age, weight and experience as in a regular bout, and the boxers, their coaches, the event supervisor and the attending physician must all agree to the bout.

Under Boxing Canada's Articles and Rules (January 2025), coaches must:

• Stay seated in the designated area during the rounds.
• Not encourage or incite spectators by words or signs while in the Field of Play.
• Not leave their designated area, touch the ring, or clap, as this might interfere with the opponent.
• Not use cameras or communication devices (phones, tablets, headsets, recording devices) in the Field of Play.
• Not enter the ring except during the 1-minute rest period, unless the referee directs them to.

Coaches are not allowed in the weigh-in area. In Funbox bouts coaches may not coach from the corner.