▪️Five African countries took part with Algeria finishing sixth and Cameroon seventh. No medals for Morocco, South Africa and Seychelles
▪️Cameroon’s 2023 Africa Elite Championships female flyweight gold medallist Ngoune Reine Laure is understood to be in Russia undergoing training to improve on her performance
April 29, 2026
Africa Zone 3 gold medallists Issouhou Mouhaman and Zacharie Mvogo were among the five Cameroon boxers to win five medals in the recently concluded Korotkov Memorial International Tournament in Khabarovks, Russia.
Flyweight Issouhou Mouhaman won a silver medal while super-heavyweight Zacharie Mvogo, middleweight Nguefack Tonleu Richie, light-heavyweight Fotouo Totap and cruiserweight Babiguana Georges returned home on April 28 with bronze medals.
Cameroon finished seventh in men’s medals table with one silver and four bronze medals while Algeria placed sixth, winning three silver medals and one bronze.
The information on the Russia event has been shared by Cameroon’s national team’s head coach Alain Didier Ngatcha who was with the team in Khabarovks.
Russia’s A and B teams dominated taking the first two top positions, bagging 5-1-2 and 4-3-3 medals respectively followed by third-placed Uzbekistan 2-3-3, Thailand 1-1-1 and Korea fifth with 1-0-0.
Cameroon was represented by seven boxers, five men and two women. Bantamweight Moudjongue and middleweight Lenou Balemaken Victoire lost in the quarter-finals of the women’s category.
Africa’s other participants, Morocco, Seychelles and South Africa did not make it to the medal bracket.
South Africa National Boxing Organisation (SANABO) Secretary-General Liwa Mlokokoti attributed the lacklustre performance on the short notice invitations.
“Our boxers lost in all their first bouts. There is a common thread in most international tournaments: short-notice invitations,” Mlokoti told boxersworld.co.ke in a telephone interview from Johannesburg.
He went on: “As a result, a boxer’s true capabilities cannot be accurately judged by comparing performances under short notice with those delivered after adequate preparation time for an event.”
The Konstantin Korotkov Memorial International Boxing Tournament is a prestigious annual event held in Khabarovsk, Russia, mostly in April at the Platinum Arena. The 2026 edition took place from April 20–26, featuring elite men’s and women’s boxers from various countries competing in 13 and 6 weight categories respectively.
It’s in memory of Soviet Union hero Konstantin Korotkov.
Recognized as a high-level “Class A” tournament with prize money for finalists, the tournament has been held since 1961, becoming an international event in 2008.
Meanwhile, Cameroon’s 2023 Africa Elite Championships female flyweight champion, Ngoune Reine Laure, is understood to be training in Russia for major tournaments ahead this year. She won gold in the 2023 Africa Championships by outpointing DR Congo’s Nyembo Gisele. Since then the talented Cameroon boxer has largely been inactive at the big stage.
