Ten boxers from Tajikistan will compete at the 2026 Asiad. Who will fight for medals in Japan?

Tajikistan’s boxing team has finalized its roster for one of the major events of the four-year cycle – the XX Summer Asian Games. Ten representatives of Tajikistan’s boxing will travel to Japan: six men and four women. Among them are both experienced athletes who have already competed in major international tournaments and boxers who are yet to make their mark at the Asian Games level.

Tajikistan’s delegation, according to preliminary information, will exceed 120 athletes. Boxing traditionally remains one of the sports from which the country will expect medal contention. Moreover, the bar has been set high following the previous Asian Games: at the Games in Hangzhou, Tajik boxers won two medals.

In the men’s tournament, Tajikistan will be represented in six weight classes. Traveling to Japan will be Mehrodj Sufidzhonov (55 kg), Akmal Ubaidov (60 kg), Shamsher Saidov (70 kg), Nekruz Salimov (80 kg), Parviz Karimov (90 kg), and Muhammad Abroriddinov (+90 kg).

Four more female athletes will represent the women’s team: Fariza Yokubova (51 kg), Hangoma Isoeva (54 kg), Midjgona Samadova (60 kg), and Malika Nozimova (65 kg).

The Tajik team will be represented in 10 out of 11 weight classes included in the official boxing tournament program of the Asian Games. The only category without a Tajikistan representative will be the women’s 75 kg weight class. The organizers have provided for six men’s categories – 55, 60, 70, 80, 90, and over 90 kg – and five women’s categories – 51, 54, 60, 65, and 75 kg.

The team at the competition will be led by coaches Saidkhodzha Mamurov, Parviz Akhmedov, and Rustam Muzafarov.

Special attention in the roster is drawn to Midjgona Samadova. For her, the Asian Games is an already familiar tournament. At the previous Asian Games, the Tajik athlete won a bronze medal in the 57 kg category. Now Samadova is entered in the 60 kg weight class.

At the previous Asian Games, Tajikistan also received gold from boxing through Davlat Boltaev in the 92 kg category. This time he is not on the roster – the boxer has now focused on his professional career.

The men’s team has quite a few names for whom the Asian Games in Japan could become one of the most important tournaments of their careers. For each, the task will be equally challenging: the Asian Games in boxing have long gone far beyond the scope of an ordinary continental tournament.

According to the official schedule of the organizers, the first preliminary bouts of boxers will take place on September 21. On this day, men’s categories 90 and over 90 kg will begin competition, followed by 70 kg.

On September 22, women in the categories up to 51 and 54 kg and men up to 55 kg will start. The next day, men’s weights up to 60 and 80 kg will join in. The preliminary stage will then continue until September 28.

Semifinals are scheduled for September 29 and 30, and all championship bouts will take place on October 2 – first in the 55, 70, and 90 kg categories for men and 51, 60, and 75 kg for women, then in the second session champions will be determined in the men’s weights 60, 80, and +90 kg and women’s 54 and 65 kg.