Boxing at the Rio 2016 Olympics: All you need to know

How does it work?

There are 10 weight categories for men and three for women, who competed in Olympic boxing for the first time four years ago.

A bout consists of three, three-minute rounds for men, and four rounds of two minutes for women.

The competition has a straight knockout format, with three judges deciding the winner of each bout. The two losing semi-finalists will both receive bronze medals.

Who are the favourites?

The USA's last male gold was Andre Ward's in 2004, but bantamweight Shakur Stevenson has got fans very excited. Compatriot Claressa Shields won middleweight gold in London aged 17.

Ireland's Katie Taylor has seen her shield of invincibility go after two high-profile defeats in 2016. Cuba won just two golds in 2012 but have a formidable squad led by Lazaro Alvarez and Julio Cesar la Cruz.

What about the British prospects?

Britain qualified 12 out of a possible 13 boxers, making it their largest squad for 32 years.

Since becoming Olympic flyweight champion, Nicola Adams has added world, Commonwealth and European Games titles to her list of honours.

Super-heavyweight Joe Joyce won bronze at the 2015 World Championships while Muhammad Ali, 20, has a name to live up to.

Anything new for Rio 2016?

The contentious decision was made in June to allow professionals to compete.

The '10-points must' scoring system used in professional boxing has been adopted; it is so-called because the winner of a round must be awarded 10 points, with the losing boxer given between six and nine points depending on how close the round was.

Head guards are no longer worn by men following extensive research.

When is it on?

Events run from 6 August, with the finals taking place from 14-21 August.

I didn't know that...

The Amateur International Boxing Association abandoned the use of headguards for men at the 2013 World Championships, believing that it would reduce the amount of concussions in the sport.

The Association's Medical Commission studied more than 11,000 bouts in major boxing competitions and the number of concussions showed a significant drop of 43% between 2013 to 2015.

Previous British medallists:

Fifty three (17 gold, 12 silver, 24 bronze)

Most recent British golds:

2012: Nicola Adams (women's flyweight), Luke Campbell (bantamweight), Anthony Joshua (super-heavyweight).

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