If you want to go to a boxing match but are under 18 years old, or you want to take your child to watch some live boxing, you’ll need to first know if boxing matches are age-restricted for 18+ only?
In general, most live boxing matches do not have age restrictions, meaning you don’t need to be over 18 years old to attend. However, some boxing promotions and/or some host venues may have age restrictions or require a supervising adult. To be sure, always check your ticket terms and conditions.
In this article I have covered the following:
- The venue, ticket website, and boxing promotion’s age restrictions
- Are boxing matches suitable for children
- Are boxing matches safe to go to
Where to sit at boxing to get the best view? Check out my article to get the best seats at boxing”
Boxing Venue Age Restrictions & Ticket Websites
Some venues can have age restrictions for certain events, this is completely up to the venue management and they can set them for whichever event they choose. If there is an age restriction in place, then it will be stated on the ticket website when you buy your tickets.
If in doubt, always check the terms and conditions of the upcoming boxing match on the official ticket website. This is the best option to be sure you are allowed to attend. It is from the ticket website which you will also find out the policy about under 18s being accompanied by a supervising adult if required.
“The ticket website is the best place to find all the information you need about a boxing event’s age policy”
Of course, this isn’t always easy to check if you’re pre-planning a few months in advance of the event because most ticket websites won’t have the tickets listed for sale yet. If this is the case and you still need to check in advance, there are a few things you can do including:
- Check if the ticket website has any upcoming event information
- Contact the ticket website
- Check the venue’s terms and conditions/ contact the host venue (more on this below)
- Check the promotion’s terms and conditions (more on this below)
Do boxing matches have dress codes? Check out my article for what to wear to a boxing match.
Boxing Promotion’s Age Policies & Terms and Conditions
As mentioned above, the best place to get a complete and accurate answer is from the host venue or ticket website from which you’ll be buying your tickets.
Technically, outside of a ticket website or host venue’s age policy and terms and conditions, it’s hard to give a one-size-fits-all answer for all shows and situations about age restrictions for live boxing matches because each show can be hosted by different boxing promotions.
For example, if the fight you’ll be buying tickets for is hosted by Matchroom Boxing, Mayweather Promotions, or Golden Boy Promotions, each one could have different age policies for their events. And each one could even change their age policy from one event to another.
I did a quick search through Matchroom Boxing’s terms and conditions, and under age restrictions, they say “events may be age-restricted”. Again, this shows the importance of actually checking with the venue or ticket website which is hosting the fight.
If a boxing promotion is going to set an age restriction for one of their events, you can almost guarantee that it has been influenced by the venue’s management, and therefore will be stated on the ticket website when you’re buying your tickets.
Are Boxing Matches Suitable for Children?
Whether or not a boxing event is suitable for a child to attend or not, isn’t for me to say. That is purely down to you as a parent or guardian to decide. But most parents would agree that, as long as your child understands that it’s a professional sport and that violence outside of sport is NOT okay, then that child can watch boxing.
I would argue that a live boxing match is no different from a live football match in terms of the crowd experience. There will be shouting, cheers, boos, bad language from the crowd, alcohol, and ring girls in bikinis.
If, as a parent, you would be comfortable with your child at a live football match and seeing and experiencing these things firsthand, then there’s no reason why you would feel uncomfortable with your child going to a live boxing match.
However, there is of course the added worry of the type of person who may be in the crowd of a boxing match to watch the fights – which I’ve covered in the next section below.
Are Boxing Events Safe?
Boxing is a household global sport and has come a long way from any far distant, barbaric bare-knuckle history it may have had. Nowadays, boxing events are held in some of the world’s most iconic venues and are beamed all around the world to millions of fans watching at home.
With this level of prestige which we often see with modern boxing events, comes a high level of venue professionalism, security, and safety. For example, think of a major boxing title fight being held in New York’s Madison Square Garden – think of the level of security deployed in a venue such as that.
Now, of course, boxing is a combat sport, and there’s no denying that it can attract some people who like to cause a bit of a ruckus in their lives and get into a fight here and there. Meaning, that you may find some people like this at a boxing event.
However, most boxing crowds are made up of respectful fight fans who are simply there to enjoy the action and go home without any trouble. And for those who may want the action in the ring to spill out into the crowd, the venue security is there to swiftly deal with them, making boxing events more than safe to attend.
Final Thought
If you’re doubting whether or not you should take your child, then you can also just watch on TV at home or from a sports bar. Some would even argue that you will get a better viewing experience on TV rather than in person at a live event.
It is true that you get some perks by watching at home which you don’t get when in the venue watching live from the crowd. However, there are also a lot of perks from being there live. If in doubt, check out my other article to see are boxing tickets worth it?
