Albuquerque teen Malaya Castillo wins bronze at Junior Olympics boxing event
Malaya Castillo, a 14-year-old from Cuba now in Albuquerque, won bronze in Wichita and added another national medal to a fast-rising record in the ring.
Malaya Castillo brought home bronze in the 110-pound division at the 2026 USA Boxing Junior Olympics and Summer Festival, giving the 14-year-old Albuquerque boxer another national result to add to an already crowded résumé. Competing as Navajo and Zuni, Castillo extended a run that has made her one of New Mexico’s most visible teen fighters.
The tournament ran June 21-27 in Wichita, Kansas, at the Century II Performing Arts & Convention Center and ended after six days of bouts. USA Boxing said more than 1,180 registered boxers from 46 states took part, with 1,047 bouts contested across the week and 118 championship bouts held on the final day. It was the second time in three years that Wichita hosted the Junior Olympics and Summer Festival, underscoring how far elite youth boxing now stretches across the country.
Castillo’s path to that stage began far from Kansas. She is originally from Cuba, New Mexico, and now lives in Albuquerque. Her amateur record shows a debut on June 18, 2025, and includes bouts in the 2025 National Junior Olympics & Summer Festival and the 2025 USA Boxing National Open. Before the Wichita tournament, her record already included two Silver Gloves championships, a Gold Gloves title, a National Silver Gloves medal, and silver and bronze medals from previous Junior Olympics competition.
A Navajo Times profile in late 2025 listed Castillo as No. 3 in the country in the 106-pound division, a ranking that helped establish her as one of the strongest young boxers in the Southwest. The bronze in Wichita adds another national medal to that rise and gives western New Mexico another athlete carrying Indigenous representation onto a national stage.
For Navajo and Zuni youth watching from McKinley County and across the region, Castillo’s results show what it takes to get from local gyms to a tournament field that drew fighters from 46 states. Her record points to the same ingredients again and again: early access to training, the ability to travel to major events, and enough support to keep returning to the national circuit.
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