China Hosts World’s First Humanoid Robot Boxing Tournament

On May 25, the city of Hangzhou, China, hosted the world’s first boxing tournament between humanoid robots, developed by Unitree Robotics.

Equipped with LiDAR sensors and depth cameras, the robots executed complex combinations, including hooks and knee strikes. Teams of engineers programmed and trained the robots, controlling them via gamepads or voice commands.

According to match rules, a robot lost if it failed to stand up within 8 seconds.

The next tournament is scheduled to take place in Shenzhen in December 2025.

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A humanoid robot is a robot resembling the human body in shape. The design may be for functional purposes, such as interacting with human tools and environments, for experimental purposes, such as the study of bipedal locomotion, or for other purposes. In general, humanoid robots have a torso, a head, two arms, and two legs, though some humanoid robots may replicate only part of the body. Androids are humanoid robots built to aesthetically resemble humans.