Registration is now open for the 2026 USA Boxing Professional Pathway Tournament, which will take place Dec. 5–12 at the CajunDome in Lafayette, Louisiana. This will be a separate competition, administered by USA Boxing officials under Olympic-style rules, in which professional pathway boxers compete only against one another with a chance at a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. The first-place finisher in each Olympic weight class earns an invitation to the 2027 Elite Team Evaluation & Selection Camp in Colorado Springs in early 2027, where all invited athletes are evaluated under the same standards. Online registration for the event is available here and the registration deadline is Monday, Nov. 30th.

 

The criteria for eligibility to enter the Professional Pathway Tournament are:(a) a minimum of five professional boxing bouts, with all bouts scheduled for four or more rounds; (b) minimum winning percentage of 75% in all professional bouts; an (c) a professional bout within the past two years from the start of the 2026 Professional Pathway Tournament. If the athlete does not meet the professional-bout threshold and winning percentage, men must have at least fifty (50) USA Boxing bouts with a minimum 50% winning percentage in Olympic-style amateur bouts. Women must have at least thirty (30) USA Boxing bouts with a minimum 50% winning percentage in Olympic-style amateur bouts.

 

The traditional USA Boxing pathway remains in place for current amateur boxers to the High Performance Team and Squad, and nothing about it changes. In fact, the Professional Pathway Tournament will be held alongside the 2026 USA Boxing Elite National Championships. Current USA Boxing athletes continue to advance through the Elite National Championships and the established selection procedures.

 

This marks USA Boxing’s third time partnering with Lafayette in the past three years, including when the CajunDome hosted the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Boxing.