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Philippines, 13 Mar 2026 |
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Five Boxers Advance on Day Five of 2026 World Boxing Futures Cup PhilBoxing.com Fri, 13 Mar 2026 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (March 12, 2026) – Team USA earned five more wins on Thursday at the 2026 World Boxing Futures Cup in Bangkok, Thailand. The United States saw four boxers advance to the quarterfinals, one boxer advance to the semifinals, and one boxer earn a bronze medal on day five of competition. Earning the first win of the day was Brijhana Epperson (women’s 57 kg | Kansas City, Mo.), defeating China’s Mengxue Wu. Epperson dug deep late in the bout and overcame a 2-1 deficit heading into the final round. Epperson showed incredible resilience and dominated the third round 5-0 to secure the 3-2 victory. She now advances to the quarterfinals, where she will face France’s Shanon Cabane on Friday in Session 1, Ring A, Bout 3, at approximately 6:30 a.m. ET. After Epperson, Christian Paez (men’s 55 kg | San Antonio, Texas) secured his third victory of the event after defeating Azerbaijan’s Nihat Gasimov by a 4-1 split decision. Paez won every judge’s vote in the first two rounds and will now advance to the quarterfinals, where he will face Spain’s Manuel Bueno on Friday in Session 1, Ring B, Bout 10, at approximately 2:15 a.m. ET. Right after Paez, Asante Lamar (men’s 70 kg | Cincinnati, Ohio) stepped into the ring and dominated from start to finish before earning a unanimous decision victory over Japan’s Kenshiro Moko. Lamar won every judge’s vote in all three rounds and earned one 10-8 card in the second round. He will now square off with Kazakhstan’s Bibarys Ashirbay in the quarterfinals on Friday in Session 1, Ring A, Bout 11, at approximately 2:30 a.m. ET. Making her international and tournament debut on day five was Marley McNealy (women’s 70kg | San Francisco, Calif.). The California native went down 5-0 after the first round against Uzbekistan’s Maftuna Yangieva but responded by winning the second round 3-2 to enter the final round down 2-0. McNealy carried the momentum into the final round, landing multiple right hooks on Yangieva and winning the round 4-1 to ultimately secure the bout via a 3-2 split decision. McNealy will now advance to the semifinals and is guaranteed a medal. She will face Kazakhstan’s Kamila Ospanova on Saturday, March 14. Asaan Jenkins (men’s 65 kg | Washington, D.C.) earned Team USA’s final win of the day in his second appearance of the week. The Washington D.C. native earned his second unanimous decision victory, this time over Armenia’s Suren Katvalyan. Jenkins was down 3-2 after the first round but was lights out in the second and third rounds, winning every judge’s vote in the final six minutes, including a 10-8 in the third round after delivering two 8-counts to Katvalyan. Jenkins will now face Morocco’s Houssam Boucheta in Friday’s quarterfinals in Session 2, Ring B, Bout 10, at approximately 8:15 a.m. ET. Team USA also had Ciana Nonhphala (women’s 48 kg | Providence, R.I.), Kaylee Aguilar (women’s 60 kg | Houston, Texas), Ruby Lopez (women’s 51 kg | Napa, Calif.), 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.) compete on Thursday; however their respective journeys 2026 World Boxing Futures Cup concluded following their defeats. Reid secured Team USA’s first medal of the tournament, a bronze medal, marking the first international medal of his young career. Team USA will see six boxers in action Friday, including four winners from Thursday’s slate. Guadalupe Ruiz (women’s 54 kg | Anaheim, Calif.) will return to the ring and will face Egypt’s Hajer Wahba, and Team Captain Lauryn Elmore (women’s 65 kg | Sacramento, Calif.) will make her tournament debut against Kazakhstan’s Aisulu Mukhit. 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 daily bout sheets, results, tournament updates, and more, will be uploaded to USA Boxing’s 2026 World Boxing Futures Cup event page. Thursday, March 12 | Results: Women’s 48 kg: Ciana Nonhphala vs. Gular Huseynova, AZE | L 3-0 Women’s 57 kg: Brijhana Epperson vs. Mengxue Wu, CHN | W 3-2 Women’s 60 kg: Kaylee Aguilar vs. Rushanabonu Isoeva, UZB | L 5-0 Men’s 55 kg: Christian Paez vs. Nihat Gasimov, AZE | W 4-1 Men’s 70 kg: Asante Lamar vs. Kenshiro Moko, JPN | W 5-0 Women’s 51 kg: Ruby Lopez vs. Chandrika Bhoreshi Pujari, IND | L 5-0 Women’s 75 kg: Marley McNealy vs. Maftuna Yangieva, UZB | W 3-2 Men’s 65 kg: Asaan Jenkins vs. Suren Katvalyan, ARM | W 5-0 Men’s 75 kg: James Gentile vs. Suhrob Rakhmatullaev, UZB | L 5-0 Men’s 80 kg: Hadi Almashhadi vs. Warren Tchoff, FRA | L 5-0 Men’s 90+ kg: Caleb Reid vs. Vladislav Samozhonov, KAZ | L (RSC-I) Friday, March 13 | Schedule: Women’s 54 kg: Guadalupe Ruiz vs. Hajer Wahba, EGY Session 1 | Ring B | Bout 4 | Red Corner | Approximately 12:45 a.m. ET Men’s 55 kg: Christian Paez vs. Manuel Bueno Jodar, ESP Session 1 | Ring B | Bout 10 | Red Corner | Approximately 2:15 a.m. ET Men’s 70 kg: Asante Lamar vs. Bibarys Ashirbay, KAZ Session 1 | Ring A | Bout 11 | Red Corner | Approximately 2:30 a.m. ET Women’s 57 kg: Brijhana Epperson vs. Shanon Cabane, FRA Session 2 | Ring A | Bout 3 | Red Corner | Approximately 6:30 a.m. ET Women’s 65 kg: Lauryn Elmore vs. Aisulu Mukhit, KAZ Session 2 | Ring A | Bout 5 | Red Corner | Approximately 7:00 a.m. ET Men’s 65 kg: Asaan Jenkins vs. Houssam Boucheta, MAR Session 2 | Ring B | Bout 10 | Red Corner | Approximately 8:15 a.m. ET  |
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