English Teenager George Francis Ruled Out of Under-19 Worlds Over Missing Sex Test
An 18-year-old English boxer has been ruled ineligible for the Under-19 World Championships in Budva, Montenegro, hours before the tournament draw. George Francis was due to fight in the 60kg category, roughly 132 pounds. According to BBC Sport, he was ruled out because no sex verification test proving he is male had been organised.
England Boxing has acknowledged that an administrative oversight occurred in his case. Francis is a multiple schoolboy and junior national champion, and he turned 18 four days before flying to the competition. That timing matters here, because the rules that apply to him changed around his birthday.
Sex testing in boxing has been tightened in stages. World Boxing, the body that sets the rules for this event, introduced mandatory genetic sex testing for female competitors aged 18 and above last year. In January, it extended those rules to include male boxers. Under the system, national federations, the boxing bodies in each country, are responsible for making sure the test samples are processed.
The process has caused problems before. In 2025, a dozen female fighters from five nations were barred from the World Championships in Liverpool because deadlines for their sex tests were missed. Those cases were about paperwork and timing rather than the result of any bout, but they meant boxers who had trained for months could not compete.
For a casual fan, the key point is that eligibility in youth and amateur boxing now depends on checks that must be completed before a fighter can step into the ring. Testing must be arranged in advance, and the national federation has to make sure it is carried out in time. When those steps slip, the athlete can lose their place, however ready they are.
Francis's exclusion removes a young boxer from a championship he had prepared for. England Boxing's acknowledgement of an administrative oversight is the clearest account so far of how the process broke down in his case. Further details about the tournament have not yet been announced.
