USA Boxing Youth High Performance Team Begins Brandenburg Cup Prep Camp

The 2025 USA Boxing Youth High Performance team began its final prep camp on Monday for the 2025 Brandenburg Cup, and all 14 members of the roster are healthy and in attendance. The Brandenburg Cup is scheduled to take place from July 29 through August 3, 2025, in Frankfurt, Germany, inside the Sportzentrum Frankfurt.

The 2025 Youth High Performance team consists of nine males and five females. On the men’s side are Lorenzo Juanito Patricio (50 kg | Waianae, Hawai’i), Landon John Patricio (55 kg | Waianae, Hawai’i), team captain Salim Ellis-Bey (60 kg | Philadelphia, Pa.), Lavant Brownlee (65 kg | Louisville, Ky.), Jose Vasquez (70 kg | Dallas, Texas), Anthony Lona (75 kg | Kyle, Texas), Joseph Awinongya (80 kg | Joliet, Ill.), Angel Blancarte (85 kg | Hutchinson, Kan.) and Nnajai Wright (90+ kg | Richmond, Va.).

On the women's side, Joscelyn Olayo-Munoz (48 kg | Las Cruces, N.M.) headlines the women’s roster as a captain. She is joined on the team by Laila Zakirova (51 kg | Staten Island, N.Y.), Alexis Tangaro (54 kg | Waianae, Hawai’i), Lauryn Elmore (65 kg | Sacramento, Calif.), and Kayla Maria Moore (80+ kg | Disputanta, Va.).

Heading into the final camp for the Brandenburg Cup, head coach Edward Fonteneaux is excited about the roster he has put together to represent the USA internationally.

“I’m pretty excited for the kids,” Fonteneaux said of his roster heading into the Brandenburg camp. “Ten of the 14 kids got the opportunity to participate in [the] Junior Olympics and Summer Festival. By them competing on that national stage, it allowed me and the coaching staff to get a snapshot of where they’re at and how they are implementing the High Performance techniques that they learned throughout selection camp and team building camp, and gave us a better way to move forward before going into Brandenburg.”

Ellis-Bey has been an instrumental figure for the team, specifically on the men’s side. While still young in his amateur career, he has proven himself to be an exceptional leader for the program and an even stronger competitor.

“This is a very skilled team, and we have a lot of very skilled, technical boxers. To be successful in the Brandenburg Cup, we are just going to have to be active,” Ellis-Bey stated of the team entering this camp. “We are going to have to be hungry. We are going to have to be goal-driven and just outwork our opponents.”

Olayo-Munoz has also shown her ability to lead and push the Youth High Performance program. Her standard is set high, and she expects the same from her teammates.

“Right now, our team is working very, very hard,” Olayo-Munoz said. “We’re pushing each other, motivating each other. We became a family last camp, so we’re just putting it all together here, coming to Germany, making sure everybody’s on task and making sure everybody’s locked in. We’re not taking shortcuts because we know we want to come back with 14 gold medals.”

Among the loaded roster on the men’s side are Awinongya and Lorenzo Juanito Patricio, who are each coming off a gold medal at last year’s inaugural World Boxing U19 Championship in Pueblo, Colorado. Awinongya has already demonstrated his star power, routinely ending his bouts early with precision and power. The Joliet, Ill., native is brimming with confidence and also earned a gold medal at the recent 2025 USA Boxing Junior Olympics and Summer Festival.

Patricio is a guaranteed highlight reel in his own right in the 50 kg division and has made a name for himself as an amateur. His electric style consistently flusters his opponents, and his ability to flow throughout each bout perfectly showcases his Hawaiian roots each time he steps into the ring. The 50-kilogram competitor also won a gold medal at the 2025 USA Boxing Junior Olympics and Summer Festival.

The leadership qualities of the USA Boxing Youth High Performance team are widely prevalent, and that is primarily due to the mentalities that head coach Edward Fonteneaux and his team captains, Ellis-Bey and Olayo-Munoz, bring to the table.

“I just want everybody on the team to push themselves past their limits, to the limits that they don’t know they have, and just push each other and work as one,” Ellis-Bey mentioned at the start of the camp. “We’re here to build on top of each other and help each other elevate to that next level and just grow as fighters.”

For Olayo-Munoz, the mission is for the team to be successful, but she is also prepared to showcase her abilities at the international level.   “I’m locked in and ready to go,” said Olayo-Munoz. “We had a minor setback at the U19 World Championships, but I’m ready to show the world what they’ve been missing out on. I’m working my butt off for this gold medal, so I’m making sure I’m going to take that gold medal and bring it back home.”

While Ellis-Bey is focused on pushing the team to its highest standard, he is also determined to showcase his skills on the world’s stage. “This is my first time competing internationally, so I’m just excited,” the Philadelphia, Pa., native said. “I’m pushing myself harder than ever, and I’m putting in the extra work, putting in the extra recovery. I’m taking care of my body and taking care of my mindset, taking care of my mental [game], first and foremost. I’m conducting myself as what I look at myself as, because I feel like I’m one of the greatest fighters in the world, and I’m going to carry myself as such.”

Fonteneaux has meshed the USA Boxing Youth High Performance team into a well-oiled machine entering the final camp before the Brandenburg Cup. His focus is on building a supportive family environment that is also willing to hold each other accountable.

“In boxing, we like to say that the sport is a majority mental as opposed to physical,” stated the head coach. “What I like about this team is that they are starting to grow together as a team. They are coming down and taking care of each other. They are getting an excellent understanding of the team concept, even though it’s an individual sport, they have a great understanding and grasp the concept that nobody gets to a gold medal by themselves.”