By Jake Donovan

As the female side of boxing continues to grow in popularity and respectability, there continues the cries of equal treatment from number of rounds and length of time all the way to proper compensation.

Those battles continue on, but one major step has been taken by the World Boxing Council (WBC) to help clean up the sport as a whole.

Effective June 1, all female boxers ranked by the WBC in the Top 5 of any given division will be subject to random drug testing, as per the sanctioning body’s Clean Boxing Program. The process was previously exclusive to male boxers, with drug testing among females virtually nonexistent beyond post-fight at the commission level.

Those days are over.
 
“The World Boxing Council and VADA (Voluntary Anti-Doping Association) once again join forces, by starting the Clean Boxing Program for  WOMEN’S boxing as of June 1st,” announced Mauricio Sulaiman, president of the WBC and who continues to serve at the forefront of improving fighter safety. “The WBC is the first organization to implement mandatory anti-doping tests in all championship fights since 1975, being a leader in boxing and in all sports, putting safety at the paramount of priorities.”

As is the case with male boxers, all athletes who wish to retain its designated ranking with the WBC—Top 15 for men, Top 5 for women, along with all champions on both sides—must have all paperwork formally submitted and confirmed as CBP-enrolled.

The sanctioning body has dropped numerous fighters through the years for failing to comply with such procedures. Even with the sport boasting far more male than female athletes, the ratings can get watered down in a hurry when rotating contenders in and out of the Top 15. It’s even more drastic considering the talent pool amongst female boxers boasts far more shallow waters.

The latter explains why obligations amongst female athletes only dips to the Top 5 and amongst its 16 weight divisions, as opposed to 17 for me.

“From June 1st onwards, world champions and the first five ranked fighters in all 16 divisions must enroll in CBP within the next 90 days,” notes the WBC in assigning a September 1 deadline to come correct. “[Understand] that at the end of this period, those who’ve not registered with the Program must leave the WBC rankings.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox