Study aim: The purpose of this study was to assess the physiological cost of three consecutive official boxing fights played during a 3-day tournament and two non-contact specific drills against handheld pads of the same time-profile as the contest, 4 × 2 minutes with 1-minute intervals between them. This assessment was based on the determination of selected hormones and metabolites in the blood sampled directly prior to the contests and throughout short-term post-contest recovery.

Material and methods: A female amateur boxer was enrolled on the study during a 3-day Polish Boxing Championship, where one match was played on each day. The timing of capillary blood sampling during each match and the drill was as follows: 10 minutes prior to the effort, and 3 and 30 minutes after its completion. Cortisol (C), testosterone (T), and glucose (G) were determined in the serum, while lactate (LA) was determined in the blood. In addition, prior to each effort, serum creatine kinase (CK) and urea (U) was determined. Directly after each effort, the perception of fatigue (PF) was rated.

Results: G, C, and T during official matches were significantly higher than those during non-contact drills. Post-event G, C, T, and LA were higher compared to pre-event values.

Conclusions: An official boxing match produced higher stress than a drill of the same time-profile and similar modality. Changes in blood indices corresponded well with the perception of fatigue.