NEWS

Spain topped the boxing medal table at the Mediterranean Games 2026, claiming four golds and two silvers across five days of competition in Taranto.

Hosts Italy also won four Mediterranean Games titles, adding three bronze medals to finish second overall. Morocco placed third with two golds, one silver and three bronzes.

A total of 14 champions were crowned from 118 entries, with France, Türkiye, Croatiaand Kosovo also celebrating gold.

The women’s 57kg final pitted two of the competition’s most experienced against each other, with Italy’s Olympic bronze medallists and World gold medallist, Irma Testa, going up against France’s European Games winner, Amina Zidani.

The fight had swings for both fighters, with Testa taking the first but Zidani responded in the second setting up a deciding third. It was Testa who got the job done with a strong finish earning her gold on home soil.

Enmanuel Reyes Pla of Spain, who captured bronze medals at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and the World Boxing Championships 2025 Liverpool, was another high-profile winner for the nation, beating Serbia’s Marko Pizurica in the men’s 90kg final.

One of the most exciting matches contested in Taranto was the men’s 65kg final, Morocco’s Soulaimane Samghouli edged past Algeria’s Ismali Bekhsis courtesy of a 3:2 split decision. Algeria endured a difficult final day, with three of their boxers making it to finals but having to settle for silver in all of their contests.

All results from today’s finals and final tournament standings are available on the Taranto 2026 website.

Boxing at the Mediterranean Games was held from 22-27 August. It was the second multi-sport event held under World Boxing’s rules in 2026, after the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, with the Asian Games and Youth Olympic Games still to follow this year.

Wednesday saw 28 semi-final bouts take place in Taranto, setting up today’s final lineup and seeing 27 boxers secure a bronze medal for their nation at the Mediterranean Games 2026.

Spain’s boxers dominated proceedings, delivering six wins on semi-finals day, followed by France and competition hosts, Italy, who won four bouts each. Algeria, Türkiye and Morocco secured three wins, Serbia two, while Croatia, Kosovo and Egypt picked up one victory each.

World Boxing Championships silver medallist and Paris Olympian, Rafael Lozano Serrano, spearheaded Spain’s success, winning against Algeria’s Amine Zanaz in the men’s 55kg, setting up a final bout with France’s Christopher Hippocrate.

Morocco’s Saida Lahmidi delivered an impressive performance in her victory over Turkiye’s Dilara Sak. Lahmidi knocked down her opponent twice in the first round and a third time in the second, leading to the referee stopping the contest in the women’s 70kg bout. She will face France’s Maelys Richol in the final.

Despite defeat, the losing semi-finalists had already secured themselves a bronze medal by reaching this stage. Greece’s Michail Tsamalidis, however, was disqualified during his bout with Algeria’s Mustapha Abdou, meaning the 80kg Greek boxer will not be awarded a bronze medal. 

Fourteen gold medal bouts will take place today (Thursday 27 August) with the first bout getting underway at 13:00 CEST. 

All results so far and live results from today’s finals are available on the Taranto 2026 website.

World Boxing will share updates ahead of and during the competition on its website and social media channels.

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/officialworldboxing/

X – https://x.com/RealWorldBoxing

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/OfficialWorldBoxing

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/world-boxing/

World Boxing is continuing to strengthen the role of women across the sport, with participation and governance data showing significant progress alongside clear opportunities to improve representation in coaching, officiating and leadership.

Gender equity is an important principle for World Boxing, both within its own structures and in its role as the International Federation for Olympic-style boxing. World Boxing’s Statutes commit the organisation to equal opportunities and to rejecting discrimination based on gender. 

The progress in Olympic boxing has been significant. At Tokyo 2020, the programme featured eight men’s and five women’s weight categories, with 187 male and 102 female boxers. By Paris 2024, this had moved to seven men’s and six women’s categories and complete athlete parity: 124 men and 124 women.

The pathway towards equality continues. LA28 will feature seven weight categories for both men and women, while boxing at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games will have complete gender parity, with 60 male and 60 female athletes from 79 National Olympic Committees. Glasgow 2026 also became the first Commonwealth Games to feature the same number of boxing weight categories for men and women. 

Growing female participation

This commitment is increasingly reflected in World Boxing competition.

Across four major events held so far in 2026 – the World Boxing Cups in Brazil and China, the World Boxing Futures Cup and Glasgow 2026 – there have been 1,271 athlete entries, including 503 women, meaning women accounted for approximately 40% of participation.

At the World Boxing Cup in Brazil, women represented 42% of the 324 boxers, while the figure was 40% of 279 athletes in China and 39% of the 467 boxers at the World Boxing Futures Cup. 

This builds on 2025, when women accounted for 426 of 1,029 athlete entries – 41.4% – across four major World Boxing competitions, including 213 women at the inaugural World Boxing Championships in Liverpool. 

World Boxing’s competition structure is also increasingly reflecting this commitment. In 2024, Congress agreed that World Boxing competitions would feature 10 weight categories for both men and women. 

Progress in governance

World Boxing is also monitoring female representation throughout its governance and administration.

Women currently occupy 22 of 74 positions across the Executive Board, committees, commissions and office staff: 30% of all roles. 

Several parts of the organisation have already achieved or exceeded gender parity. The Sport & Competition Committee is 57% female, while women account for 50% of both the Ethics Committee and Athletes Committee. World Boxing’s office staff also has equal representation of men and women. 

Across all committees, women currently occupy 12 of 35 positions (34%), while four of the 17 Executive Board members are women. 

The data also identifies areas where more progress is needed. Female representation currently stands at 18% on the Medical Committee, 14% on the Finance & Audit Committee and 17% on the Coaches Commission, while the Remuneration Commission currently has no female representation. 

For World Boxing, measuring and reporting these figures is an important part of creating sustainable change and identifying where future action should be focused.

A particular priority is increasing the number of women progressing from competition into coaching, officiating and other technical roles.

Across five major events between February and July 2026 for which data is available, women occupied 68 of 268 technical-official positions – approximately 25%. At individual events, female representation has generally remained between 22% and 26%. 

The challenge is not simply to increase the number of women competing. It is to develop pathways that enable women to remain involved in boxing throughout their careers and progress into coaching, officiating, administration and leadership.

Dinah Glykidis, Chair of World Boxing’s Gender Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Commission, said:

“World Boxing has been very clear on the need for gender equity at the Olympic Games, but we still have work to do at our own events and in technical officiating.

“One of our biggest challenges is increasing the number of female coaches and officials. There are significant opportunities to improve representation in these areas, and our Commission will work with all relevant stakeholders to identify practical initiatives that enable more women to participate and progress throughout boxing.”

The latest figures provide World Boxing and its Gender Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Commission with a clear baseline from which to measure future progress.

The Commission will work with World Boxing’s leadership and relevant stakeholders to identify practical initiatives and develop measurable actions to increase women’s representation, particularly in coaching, technical officiating and decision-making roles.

Progress will continue to be monitored across athletes, coaches, technical officials, committees, commissions, administration and elected leadership, enabling World Boxing to identify areas of improvement and where further action is required.

The figures already demonstrate significant progress. Women account for around 40% of athlete participation at major World Boxing events in 2026, several boxing governance bodies have reached or exceeded parity, and gender equality is increasingly embedded in the international competition pathway.

At the same time, World Boxing recognises that progress must continue, particularly in coaching, officiating and leadership, and is committed to reaching new milestones soon.