The next edition of the Asian Boxing Confederation (ASBC) Under 22 and Youth Boxing Championships will be held in Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium, Colombo, from May 10th to 24th 2025. Sri Lanka will host this significant tournament by marking the first major boxing championship since the Asian Championships held in Colombo way back in 1967.
Though the Sri Lankan Boxing Association (SLBA) had already completed a mammoth workload, the renovations of the stadium are still happening now. Tharanga Perera, who is the Chairman of the Organising Committee of the Boxing Championships, is optimistic that the due works will be definitely finished within a few weeks. Furthermore, SLBA is expecting at least 400 – 500 boxers who will be representing 25 of ASBC’s member countries, to participate in the championship, giving a boost to sports based tourism in the island.
In this year’s tournament, SLBA hopes to field approximately 15 boxers in both categories and target at least five medals (including two golds), while fully utilising the home advantage. To achieve this uphill task, SLBA has scheduled a selection trial at Prestigious Royal MAS Arena Boxing Ring on March 29th. Boxers who were born in 2003 to 2006 will be eligible to compete in the U22 age group, and the players born in 2007 and 2008 will participate in the youth category encounters.
The previous edition of the championships was held in Kazakhstan in 2024, by giving major honours to the hosts. The climax of the recent Sri Lankan Boxing performances came in the previous year as the youth boxer Umayanga Mihiran won a historic bronze medal in the Men’s Flyweight (51kg) category at the last ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships, by ending a 37 year medal drought of the Lions nation.
Ultimately, this will be a massive opportunity for youth boxes to display their skills allowing SLBA to nurture and develop young talent in the long run by escalating them to senior internationals. Hence, Mr. Perera delivered that “This championship isn’t just about the present; it’s a long term investment in the future of our boxing program”. World-class tournaments of this nature will surely intensify the focus on Boxing among school children, and it may be a catalyst to potential boxers to take up the gloves and to fight in a ring for supremacy.
 Under 22 and Youth Boxing Championships will be held in Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium, Colombo from May 10th to 24th 2025. Sri Lanka will host this significant tournament by marking the first major boxing championship since the Asian Championships held in Colombo way back in 1967.){kind=link}