More than 400 boxers, representing 40 National Federations, are confirmed to compete at the European Elite Boxing Championships 2026, with action taking place from 17–25September in Sofia, Bulgaria.
The event is being held at the Asics Arena Sports Hall and bouts will be contested across twenty weight divisions, ten for both men and women, with World Boxing ranking points on offer.
Hosts Bulgaria will be represented by 16 boxers, including reigning European champion and World Boxing Championships silver medallist Rami Kiwan (M75kg), five‑time StrandjaCup winner Radoslav Rosenov (M60kg), and Olympic bronze medallist Javier Ibáñez(M55Kg).
After a two‑year break, World and four‑time European champion Stanimira Petrova(W57kg) will return to the ring and be joined by multiple European medallist ZlatislavaChukanova (W51kg).
A number of top names are set to attend, with Ireland sending current world champion Aoife O’Rourke (W75kg) and two-time Olympic champion Kellie Harrington (W60kg), while Poland’s team will be spearheaded by world champion Agata Kaczmarska (W75kg) and Olympic silver medallist Julia Szeremeta (W57kg) all participating in the women’s competition.
On the men’s side, World Boxing Athletes Committee member and World Boxing Championships silver medallist, Yojerlin Cesar (M80kg) will represent France, with England sending Commonwealth Games gold medallists Damar Thomas (M90kg+) and Isaac Okoh (M90kg).
The full list of competing nations is Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Montenegro, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, World Boxing Refugee Team, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Turkey and Ukraine.
The competition marks one of the most significant events on the European boxing calendar and serve as a key milestone on the pathway to major international competitions, including the World Boxing Championships 2027 and the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
President of European Boxing, Lars Brovil, said: “This very first edition of European Boxing Elite Championship 2026 is an extraordinary milestone for the European Boxing community, under the umbrella of World Boxing, in our work and commitment to secure a continued road forward to keep boxing within the Olympic movement and family after LA28.
“On behalf of the entire European Boxing community, I’m proud of what we have achievedwithin less than in a year and a half, creating European Boxing Championships for all age categories and now finally we are ready for the European Boxing Elite Championship for female and male.”
Two sessions will take place at 13:30 and 18:00 (CET) when action gets underway on Thursday, following the official draw on Wednesday at 18:30 (CET).
The draw, schedule, full results and additional event information can be found at https://bul.xboxing.world/.
The entire competition will be livestreamed on https://eurovisionsport.com/en.
World Boxing will be posting updates throughout on its social media channels:
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/officialworldboxing
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/OfficialWorldBoxing