Team USA Youth High Performance Path to Gold Set for 2026 World Boxing Futures Cup

Brackets have been announced for the 2026 World Boxing Futures Cup. The competition will begin on Sunday, March 8, in Bangkok, Thailand, with two of Team USA’s 17 Youth High Performance boxers in action on opening day. While competition begins on Sunday in Thailand, considering the time zone difference, Team USA's boxers will be in action on Saturday, March 7 in the United States. Guadalupe Ruiz (Women’s 54 kg | Anaheim, Calif.) and Refugio Veloz (Men’s 50 kg | Atwater, Calif.) will start things off for USA Boxing in the opening rounds of their respective brackets. The competition will take place in Bangkok, Thailand, and will run from March 8, through March 15.

Ruiz will step into the ring on Sunday and square off against Kyrgyzstan’s Azizakhon Pazilova. As for Veloz, he will go head-to-head with Taiwan’s Qi You Xiao. Both boxers will make their international debuts this week and look to earn their first international medals in Bangkok, Thailand. Ruiz will need to win two bouts to secure a medal and four to earn a gold medal, while Veloz will need to win three bouts to earn his first medal and five to earn a gold medal.

Following the opening day, Team USA will see four more boxers making their international debuts. On the men’s side, Christian Paez (Men’s 55 kg | San Antonio, Texas) will face Jordan's Motaz Almashale, David Arrieta (Men’s 60 kg | Kansas City, Mo.) will face the winner of Thailand’s Siwa Chainarong and Algeria’s Abderraouf Redouani, and Asaan Jenkins (Men’s 65 kg | Washington, D.C.) will square off against the winner of Georgia’s Luka Chkhikvadza and Moldova’sCatalin Mustea.

As for the Women’s team, Brijhana Epperson (Women’s 57 kg | Kansas City, Mo.) will be the only female making her international and tournament debut on Monday, squaring off against Taiwan’sYu Jun Lin. Epperson will need to win two bouts to earn a medal and four to win gold.

Moving on to day three of the 2026 World Boxing Futures Cup, three females will have the spotlight this day as Ciana Nonhphala (Women’s 48 kg | Providence, R.I.) will go head-to-head with the Philippines' Shairylle Pores,  Ruby Lopez (Women’s 51 kg | Napa, Calif.) will square off with South Korea’s Jiwon Hong, and rounding the day out will be Kaylee Aguilar (Women’s 60 kg | Houston, Texas) against Senegal’s Ndèye Fatou Ndao.

Asante Lamar (Men’s 70 kg | Cincinnati, Ohio) will be the lone American boxer making his tournament debut on Wednesday, March 11. This will mark his international debut as well, and he will face Bangladesh's Tripura Jani. Lamar will face the Bangladesh boxer in the Round of 32, which means he needs two wins to earn his first international medal and four wins to earn a gold medal.

On day five, Team USA will have three men and one woman make their international and tournament debuts. On the men's team, James Gentile (Men’s 75 kg | Staten Island, N.Y.), Hadi Almashhadi (Men’s 80 kg | Taylor, Mich.), and Caleb Reid (Men’s 90+ kg | Palm Bay, Fla.) will enter the ring, while Marley McNealy (Women’s 75kg | San Francisco, Calif.) will enter the ring.

Gentile will face Uzbekistan’sSuhrob Rakhmatullaev, Almashhadi will go head-to-head with France’s Warren Tchoff, Reid will face the winner of New Zealand’s Te Ani Rakete and Kazakhstan’sVladislav Samozhonov, and McNealy will face Uzbekistan's Maftuna Yangieva.

Rounding out the final three boxers, Team USA’s two team captains, Lauryn Elmore (Women’s 65 kg | Sacramento, Calif.) will be the only boxer on Friday, March 13, facing the winner of Kazakhstan’sAndreea Timeea Tapu and Australia’s Tiana Rew, and Angel Blancarte (Men’s 85 kg | Hutchinson, Kan.) will box on Saturday, March 14 against the winner of Kazakhstan’s Nursultan Kystaubay and Tajikistan’s Jahongir Ruziboev. Also, Ariana Chavez (women’s 75 kg | Rio Rancho, N.M.) is boxing on Saturday and making her international debut against the winner of Uzbekistan’sSamira Turgunova and Romania’s Andreea Timeea Tapu.

The USA Boxing Youth High Performance Team is led by National Development Coach Edward Fonteneaux (Fayetteville, N.C.). Fonteneaux will be assisted throughout the tournament by High Performance Pool coaches, including Holly Gregson (Idaho Falls, Idaho), Jason Hamilton (Spanaway, Wash.), Yessenia Montalvo (Bloomfield, N.J.), and Ronald Wright (Columbus, Ga.).

Additional tournament information for the 2026 World Boxing Futures Cup, including the tournament draw, daily bout sheets, results, tournament updates, and more, will be uploaded to the event page on the USA Boxing website, where followers can find the 2026 World Boxing Futures Cup event page.

Schedule

Men's 50kg: Refugio Veloz, USA VS. Qi You Xiao, TPE

Women’s 54 kg: Guadalupe Ruiz, USA VS. Azizakhon Pazilova, KGZ

Monday, March 9

Men’s 55kg: Christian Paez, USA vs Motaz Almashale, JOR

Women’s 57kg: Brijhana Epperson vs Yu Jun Lin, TPE

Men’s 60kg David Arrieta, USA vs winner of Siwa Chainarong, THA vs Abderraouf Redouani, ALG

Men’s 65kg: Assan Jenkins vs Luka Chkhikvadza, GEO vs Catalin Mustea, MDA

Tuesday, March 10
Women’s 48 kg Ciana Nonhphala Vs. Shairylle Pores, PHI
Women’s 51 kg: Ruby Lopez, USA Vs. Jiwon Hong, KOR
Women’s 60 kg Kaylee Aguilar, USA VS. SEN Ndèye Fatou Ndao

Wednesday, March 11
Men’s 70 kg: Asante Lamar, USA VS. Noyon Tripura Jani, BAN

Thursday, March 12
Women’s 75 kg: Marley McNealy, USA VS. Maftuna Yangieva, UZB
Men’s 75 kg: James Gentile, USA VS. Suhrob Rakhmatullaev, UZB
Men’s 80 kg  Hadi Almashhadi, USA VS. Warren Tchoff, FRA
Men’s 90+ kg: Caleb Reid, USA VS. winner of Te Ani Rakete, NZL VS. Vladislav Samozhonov, KAZ

Friday, March 13
Women’s 65 kg: Lauryn Elmore VS. winner of Aisulu Mukhit, KAZ vs Tiana Rew, AUS

Satuday March 14
Men's 85 kg: Angel Blancarte VS. winner of Nursultan Kystaubay, KAZ vs Jahongir Ruziboev, TJK
Women’s 75 kg Ariana Chavez VS. winner of Samira Turgunova, UZB vs Andreea Timeea Tapu, ROU