▪️Only two boxers out of the eight in action qualified for the quarter-finals
▪️Today eight African boxers – five women and three men – enter the ring for the first quarter-finals among them Kenya’s Ellah Demesi, Senegal’s last bullet Khadidiatou Boiro and Botswana’s Precious Masaba.
▪️Nigeria’s African Youth Games female 48kg champion Mayowa Ayomide vs Algeria’s Bouthaina Bensalah in a tight rematch in November 10 quarters. Mayowa beat Bouthania in the 2025 African Youth Games finals in Angola.
November 9, 2026
A brutal “tornado” tore through the ring on a disastrous Sunday at the Dakar Youth Olympics, wiping out six of Africa’s eight boxing contenders in the Round of 16—including host nation Senegal’s two main medal hopes on November 8, 2026.
Only Algeria’s African Youth Games silver medallist Bouthaina Bensalah and Mauritius’ Julian Agathe survived the carnage to punch their way to the quarter-finals, salvaging a miserable day for the continent.
In the women’s minimumweight (48kg) division, Bouthaina Bensalah delivered a dominant 5-0 shutout against Thailand’s Pemika Kayungkasem, setting up an all-African quarter-final clash on November 10 against Nigeria’s Mayowa Ayomide who defeated the Algerian in the finals of the 2025 African Youth Games in Luanda, Angola. Men’s lightweight Agathe cruised to a unanimous 5-0 points victory over Fiji’s Norman Amram. He now faces Puerto Rico’s Torres Santiago on Tuesday, November 10 in the last eight bouts.
Elsewhere, the African contingent collapsed under relentless international pressure:
Double heartbreak for the hosts: Senegal’s medal dreams took a devastating hit. Women’s lightweight Soda Faye, a silver medallist at the 2025 African Youth Games in Angola, was overwhelmed and stopped in just 1:30 into the opening round by Slovakia’s Karolina Koralova, while men’s flyweight Cheikh Faye dropped a 5-0 unanimous decision to India’s Ambekar Lairenlakpam.
Early exits: Morocco’s minimumweight Meryem Boukraa kicked off the dismal run with a 3-0 loss to Italy’s Michela Guglielmon.
First-round stoppages: Equatorial Guinea’s lightweight Andeke Essau and Somalia’s flyweight Hassan Mohamed suffered identical fates, both stopped at the 2:59 mark of the first round by Turkey’s Ali Mohamed and Romania’s Madalin Calugar, respectively.
Late stoppage: Algeria’s Meriem Sari battled into the final frame of her women’s lightweight bout before being sent packing at 1:25 of the third round by China’s Jiaen Wang.
Enter the first quarter-finals today, November 9. Eight African boxers – three men and five women – are fighting in action.
Kenyans are keen to see how fast rising southpaw Ellah Demesi, their most impressive performer at the World U19 Futures Cup in Bangkok in March this year, performs against Venezuela’s Grenyelis Garcia who together with compatriot bantamweight Yeniree Castillo have made history by becoming the first women boxers to represent their country in the Youth Olympics.
Demesi made her international debut at the 2025 African Youth Games in Luanda, Angola, losing in the quarters to Tunisia’s Ouslatim Tashmin in the flyweight division.
Demesi’s next major event was in the World Under-19 Futures Cup in Bangkok, Thailand. She lost her opening bout to Canada’s Mehreen Khakh who meets Botswana’s Precious Masaba in today’s quarter-finals.
The last eight pairings involving the African boxers:
Men
Bantamweight
Libya’s Emran Bawin vs Australia’s Marley Dodd
Gambia’s Alieu Sanyong vs Canada’s Lisandro Garcia
Welterweight
Egypt’s Fahd Wazir vs Armenia’s Suren Katvalyan
Women
Flyweight
Algeria’s Cerine Kessal vs Bhupal’s Sangay Peldon
Kenya’s Ellah Demesi vs Venezuela’s Grenyelis Garcia
Botswana’s Precious Masaba vs Canada’s Mehreen Khakh
Featherweight
Senegal’s Khadidiatou vs Kazakhstan’s Aknur Tursyngali
Algeria’s Besma Bahri vs Ukraine’s Yevanhelina Petruk
With nine African boxers – out of the 27 entered – eliminated including three on the first day, Africa’s medal hopes have suffered a severe jolt but all is not lost with eight of them in action today on the first day of the quarter-finals. We hope lady luck smiles on the African boxers as we wish them the best of luck.
