Only a small percentage of male-to-female transgender people undergo what’s euphemistically called bottom surgery, meaning that USA Boxing’s revised eligibility criteria are likely to exclude the vast majority of such athletes from the women’s ring.

Canadian amateur boxer Katia Bissonnette last month withdrew from a championship bout in Quebec after learning an hour before the contest that her opponent, Mya Walmsley, was a male-to-female transgender athlete, according to Reduxx.

At 18, male-to-female transgender athletes would need to undergo surgery and present quarterly hormone-testing results to USA Boxing for a minimum of four years following the procedure.

Riley Gaines, a former University of Kentucky All-American swimmer, compared the Ramapo star and Lia Thomas, the male-to-female transgender athlete who won a title at the 2022 Division I women’s swimming championships.

“Male-to-female participants who have undergone male puberty will not be eligible to compete in the international women’s game,” the ICC said.