Budva, Montenegro, 15 October 2026 — The official draw for the World Boxing U19 World Championships was completed today in Budva, confirming the pathways to the medals across 20 weight categories ahead of the opening session on 16 October.
The Championships bring together 474 athletes, with 306 male and 168 female competitors across ten weight categories in each competition.
Competition begins tomorrow at 18:00 local time, with the opening programme taking place across both rings and featuring bouts in the men’s 55kg, women’s 60kg and men’s 90+kg categories.
Ring A will open with Lee Largey Snoddon (IRE) against David Mlacic (AUS) at 55kg, followed by Ariel Kansler (ISR) against Hayk Karapetyan (ARM). The women’s 60kg programme includes Brooke Miller (NZL) against Sevara Mamatova (UZB), Xenia Scharapinski (GER) against Ekaterina Nesvetaeva (RUS), and Shasha Wang (CHN) against Meriem Sari (ALG).
The opening 90+kg bouts in Ring A will see Ivan Baibakov (RUS) face Krish Krish (IND), Oluwayomi Remmele (GER) meet Niks Cepurs (LAT), Volodymyr Derkach (UKR) take on Rani Charanek (LBN), and Jose Pacheco (MEX) face Caleb Stewart Reid (USA).
Ring B will also feature nine bouts on the opening evening. The 55kg action includes Abdyrasul Arslanov (TKM) against Wenxuan Huang (CHN), Nursultan Duishonaliev (KGZ) against Nihat Gasimov (AZE), and Kit Fu Tang (HKG) against Liam Moohan (SCO).
In the women’s 60kg category, Karolina Radziunaite (LTU) will face Viktoriia Rosetska (UKR), while Canada’s Suri Pafford meets Antonina Biniecka (POL).
The Ring B 90+kg programme includes Safdar Mammadzada ((AZE) against Kiryl Zhukouski (BLR), Vladislav Samozhonov (KAZ) against Hakan Deniz Coskun (TUR), Tomislav Japirko (CRO) against Denis Cristian Cucu (ROU), and Islam Salikhov (UZB) against Luan Rrahmani (KOS).
The draw also features a number of athletes arriving in Budva with recent international success. Several champions from the 2026 World Boxing Futures Cup are in the field, including Christian Paez (USA) at 55kg, Bibarys Ashirbay (KAZ) at 70kg, Asadbek Sultanboev (UZB) at 90kg, Islam Salikhov (UZB) at 90+kg, Guadalupe Ruiz (USA) at 54kg, Brijhana Epperson (USA) at 57kg, Lauryn Elmore (USA) at 65kg and Aidana Ubaidullakyzy (KAZ) at 80kg.
The men’s competition features particularly strong depth in several categories. The 65kg division is the largest of the Championships with 45 athletes, while 38 athletes will compete at 60kg, 37 at 55kg and 35 at 70kg.
At 65kg, one of the early contests will see Kazakhstan’s Akzhurek Kalabay face China’s Kun Wang on 17 October.
The women’s competition features 168 athletes across categories from 48kg to 80+kg. The largest women’s field is at 51kg with 23 athletes, followed by 22 at 65kg and 21 each at 48kg and 60kg.
At 48kg, the bracket includes Brazil’s Elissandra Santos, Ukraine’s Anastasiia Stoianova, Uzbekistan’s Mukhtasar Alieva and Japan’s Hiyori Miki among an international field of 21 athletes.
The 51kg competition includes Japan’s Momoko Hasebe, China’s Shu Liu, Kazakhstan’s Madira Zhumakan and Uzbekistan’s Nazokat Mardonova, with athletes from across Europe, Asia, the Americas and Africa also in the draw.
Twenty athletes will compete in each of the 54kg and 57kg categories, while the women’s 65kg division contains 22 athletes. The heavier categories feature 16 athletes at 70kg, 13 at 75kg and six athletes in each of the 80kg and 80+kg divisions.
The schedule expands across both rings from 17 October, with women’s 54kg and 65kg and men’s 60kg, 65kg, 70kg and 90kg among the categories in action.
On 18 October, the programme moves into the women’s 48kg and 57kg categories and the men’s 50kg competition, with another full programme of preliminary bouts across both rings.
The tournament will continue through the preliminary rounds and quarter-finals before the semi-finals on 25 October and the finals on 27 October, when the 2026 World Boxing U19 World Champions will be crowned.
Bouts from the World Boxing U19 World Championships will be available to watch live and on demand on WorldBoxing.TV.
With the draw now confirmed, athletes from across the World Boxing membership know their route through the competition as Budva prepares for eleven days of international U19 boxing.