Held from June 23 to 27 at the Provincial Sports Arena and Nguyen Tat Thanh Square in Quy Nhon Ward, the tournaments brought together martial arts schools and boxing clubs from across the province.
The events provided athletes with opportunities to compete and exchange experience while giving local sports authorities a platform to identify promising young boxers for future elite development.
The youth championship addressed a long-standing gap in Gia Lai's boxing system, where the absence of regular grassroots competitions had limited opportunities to discover and develop emerging talent.
More than a competition for young athletes, the tournament also brought together coaches, masters and former competitors, creating a foundation for the province's next generation of boxers.
The finals featured competitors from several well-known local martial arts schools and clubs, including Nam Phuong, Do Truong Cuu, Hong Kha, The Quyen Gym & Fitness Martial Arts Club, Nhon Ly Hoi Club and Quy Nhon Kickfit.
Results reinforced the growing strength of boxing in the An Nhon area, whose clubs continued their impressive form after previous success at the Gia Lai Provincial Youth Kickboxing Championship.
Nam Phuong Martial Arts School emerged as the overall champion after winning four gold, three silver and three bronze medals from a 12-athlete squad. Master Nguyen Van Tan, a former Military Zone 7 athlete, said he had guided several students with limited kicking ability toward specialized boxing training to maximize their strengths.
The school's cooperation with the Do Gia martial arts system, including Do Truong Cuu and Do Thanh Tan, also helped improve athletes' technical standards through regular joint training camps and sparring sessions ahead of the tournament.
Dao Duy Lam, a referee from Dak Lak Province invited to officiate the competition, said Gia Lai's boxing movement has developed significantly compared with many neighboring localities.
He said some provinces have yet to establish a boxing movement as extensive as Gia Lai's, adding that the province's competitive environment enables young athletes to gain valuable experience and mature more quickly.
While the youth championship focused on developing future talent, the boxing competition at the Provincial Sports Festival produced closely contested battles among teams representing localities across Gia Lai.
From the opening rounds, teams demonstrated thorough preparation, with the race for medals remaining undecided until the final bouts because of the narrow gap separating the leading teams.
Quy Nhon Ward and Tuy Phuoc Commune each entered teams of 10 athletes. Tuy Phuoc narrowly missed the overall title after finishing with four gold, one silver and two bronze medals, falling short by a single silver medal. West Tuy Phuoc Commune placed third with three gold, two silver and two bronze medals, highlighting the increasingly competitive standard among participating localities.
Chu Se Commune also attracted attention despite fielding only two athletes. Representing the province's western region, the team reached one final and secured a silver medal after losing to a boxer from Bong Son Ward.
Coach Phan Thanh Son of the 1997 Club in Chu Se said the club had been established only about five months before the tournament. After recognizing boxing's suitability for local youth, he trained under national boxing champion Coach Thai Van Lam before launching the club.
Son said local young people possess strong physical attributes but require improved technique and more competitive opportunities, adding that the tournament result would encourage the club to continue investing in systematic training.
To broaden public engagement, organizers staged several matches at Nguyen Tat Thanh Square, where open-air competition attracted large crowds of local residents and tourists.
Australian visitor Linc Murphy, who attended the finals during a visit to Vietnam, said he was impressed by both the scale of the event and the technical standard displayed by the athletes, describing outdoor martial arts competitions as uncommon and the boxers' commitment as striking.
Dang Hieu Han, coach of the provincial boxing team, chief referee and head of the tournament supervisory board, said many competitors in the Sports Festival regularly train in boxing before returning to represent their hometowns, resulting in closely matched contests across nearly every weight division.
Han said maintaining the youth championship as an annual event would allow clubs and martial arts schools to strengthen their technical standards while providing an important pathway for identifying, selecting and nurturing future boxing talent capable of competing at higher levels.