116 boxers from 77 National Olympic Committees will take part when the boxing competition gets underway at the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, 31 October – 13 November 2026.
It will be the fourth edition of the Youth version of the Games and the first ever sporting event hosted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Africa.
Since it was first held in 2010, the Youth Olympic Games has been a key event in the boxing calendar and an important milestone on the pathway into elite boxing that provides an opportunity for boxers, aged 17 to compete at a global level.
It aims to give young boxers an opportunity to compete at a major multi-sport event and in the three previous editions in Singapore in 2010, Nanjing in 2014 and Buenos Aries in 2018, 11 boxers that have won medals at the Youth competition have gone on to achieve the same at the Olympic Games.
Famous names that have achieved this include the current WBO junior welterweight world champion, Shakur Stephenson of the USA, who won Youth gold in 2014 and Olympic silver at Rio 2016, and Cuba’s Robeisy Ramírez who followed his victory at Singapore 2010, with double Olympic gold at London 2012 and Rio 2016, before going on to win world titles in the professional ranks.
Boxers currently competing in the Olympic-style format under the World Boxing umbrella that have emulated this include Italy’s Irma Testa (silver in 2014 and bronze at Tokyo 2020), Chen Nien-Chin of Chinese Taipei (silver in 2014 and bronze at Paris 2024) and Abdumalik Khalokov of Uzbekistan who followed Youth gold at Buenos Aires in 2018 with podium topping performances at Paris 2024 and the inaugural 2025 World Boxing Championships in Liverpool.
Another boxer that has won medals at both the Youth Olympics and the Olympic Games is the Chair of World Boxing’s Athlete Committee, Caitlin Parker, who secured bronze medals in the middleweight (W75kg) division at Nanjing in 2014 and a decade later at the Paris Olympics. The Australian has no doubt about the value of the Youth Olympic Games in her development and the benefits it can have in preparing young boxers for a successful career in elite boxing.
Caitlin explained: “Competing at the Youth Olympic Games was an incredible experience and gave me my first real taste of a major multi-sport event. Winning a medal gave me the confidence that I belonged at that level and made me even more determined to one day stand on the Olympic podium.
“Looking back, that experience played a valuable role in my transition into elite boxing and development in the sport. When I went on to compete at the Commonwealth Games and Olympics, I had a better understanding of what to expect and the environment felt familiar.
“From a bronze at the Youth Olympic Games in 2014 to a bronze at the Olympic Games 10 years later was a pretty special full circle moment.”
The boxing competition at this year’s Youth Olympic Games will be the first to feature gender parity with action at five weight classes each for males and females.
The 116 boxers have been selected by their National Federations based on their performances at Youth or U19 tournaments and the World Boxing Futures Cup in Bangkok, Thailand, in March 2026 which was specifically designed to provide an opportunity for boxers that were eligible to compete at Dakar 2026 to demonstrate they met the standard required for participation at a Youth Olympic Games.
77 countries will take part in the tournament which will run from 7-12 November 2026, with two sessions per day.
The line-up of 57 men and 59 women includes three representatives from the home nation, Senegal, who will have boxers in the men’s flyweight (M50kg) category and the women’s featherweight (W57kg) and lightweight (W60kg) divisions.
As part of World Boxing’s role in Dakar, the USA’s Tokyo 2020 silver medallist and Deputy Chair of World Boxing’s Athlete Committee, Richard Torrez Jr, will be attending the event as a mentor to provide support, tips and advice to the boxers.
The tournament will be the first time that World Boxing has organised a competition on behalf of the IOC and solidifies its status as the International Federation for boxing within the Olympic family.
The President of World Boxing, Gennadiy Golovkin, said: “It is fantastic for our sport that boxing is part of the Youth Olympic Games. World Boxing is committed to being a supportive and enthusiastic partner within the Olympic Movement and it is a privilege that we have been given responsibility for the organisation and delivery of the boxing competition in Dakar.
“Tournaments like this are a brilliant opportunity for young men and women to compete on a global stage against the best boxers in the world in their age group and it is very important that at World Boxing we continue to deliver competitions like this that support the development of boxers across the world and provide them with competitive opportunities that help to prepare them for the transition into elite level boxing. “You only have to look at the names that have won medals at previous editions of the Youth Olympic Games to see that this tournament can be a springboard for a long and successful career and I hope that many of the boxers that compete or win medals in Dakar go on to achieve great things in our sport.”