The Boxing Federation of Kenya (BFK) will send four youngsters to the inaugural World Boxing (WB) U-19 Futures Cup in Bangkok, Thailand, scheduled for March 8–15, 2026. The tournament will serve as a qualifier for the fourth edition of the Summer Youth Olympic Games set for later this year in Dakar, Senegal.
Speaking from the team’s training camp at the Mathare Police Depot in Nairobi on Thursday, national team head coach Benjamin Musa admitted that the team had little time to prepare for the competition, noting that the magnitude of the tournament required more extensive training. Only winners at the event will secure tickets to the Youth Olympics in Dakar.
“It’s been a challenge training our team because during the day they are all in school, and we only train together in the evening,” said Musa, who nevertheless remains optimistic about positive results. He also expressed gratitude to the Kenyan government for financing the team’s trip to Bangkok.
Team captain Sonia Atieno, 16, from Nyalenda Estate in Kisumu City, is a Grade 10 student at Lions High School and will compete in the 65kg category. She won a bronze medal at the 2025 African Youth Games in Angola, losing in the semi-finals to Tunisia’s Alma Zaara.
Another 16-year-old on the team is Ellah Demesi, a Grade 10 student at Shadrack Kimalel Secondary School in Kibra, Nairobi. A product of the Kibra Youth Boxing Club, Demesi impressed during the Nairobi Intermediaries to earn selection for the Bangkok event. At the 2025 African Youth Games in Angola, she lost to Tunisia’s Oueslatim Tashmin in the flyweight class.
Demesi’s club teammate, Phelix Ochieng, a featherweight, has also made the team. Ochieng is a Grade 10 student at Raila Educational Centre in Kibra and has vowed to perform well in Bangkok and qualify for Dakar, recalling that he lost to DR Congo’s Mambu Mambone in Angola.
Coach Benjamin Musa, who will be assisted by David Munuhe and John Waweru, has also handed a first international opportunity to 16-year-old Brian Arianda from Rongai Boxing Club, a student at Caplora STEM International.
Arianda, who is yet to compete internationally, started boxing in 2020 at home in Onyonka Estate, Lang’ata, under coach Fred Obunga. He later moved to the Mukuru Fight-4-Life Boxing Club under Olympian coach Benson Gicharu before settling at Rongai Boxing Club.
In Bangkok, female boxers will compete in 10 categories: 48kg, 51kg, 54kg, 57kg, 60kg, 65kg, 70kg, 75kg, 80kg, and +80kg. The official female Youth Olympic categories are 48kg, 51kg, 54kg, 57kg, and 60kg.
Male boxers will also compete in 10 weight classes: 50kg, 55kg, 60kg, 65kg, 70kg, 75kg, 80kg, 85kg, 90kg, and +90kg. The official Youth Olympic categories for men are 50kg, 55kg, 60kg, 65kg, and 70kg.
Boxers born between 2008 and 2009 are eligible to participate in the Bangkok event. However, eligibility for the fourth edition of the Summer Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal, scheduled for October 31 to November 13, 2026, is limited to athletes born between November 14, 2008, and December 31, 2009.
