Women glad, men anxious about changes in 2020 Olympic boxing

There is excitement among women boxers but an air of trepidation has crept into the men's camp after the IOC decided to increase weight categories for women and drop two divisions from the men's event of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The rejigging, aimed at increasing gender parity in the Games, will see women boxers in five weight categories -- 51kg, 57kg, 60kg, 69kg and 75kg -- taking part in the 2020 Olympics.

The expansion for women has forced a cutdown in the men's competition with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ruling that there would be eight, instead of the current 10, weight categories in the Tokyo roster.

The two men's weight categories, which will be dropped, have not yet been finalised.

"It is a good decision and gives us a lot of room as far as a shot at medals is concerned. Girls, who were straining themselves to fit into the previous three weight categories can now ease up a bit and make it in their natural weight categories," chief coach for women Gurbax Singh Sandhu told

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)