Olympics Day 8: USA’s Omari Jones enters medal round, Jahmal Harvey loses decision

Omari Jones, the men’s 156-pounder from Orlando, ensured that the United States would have at least one medalist on Saturday, August 3, defeating Bulgaria’s Rami Mofid Kiwan by a dominant 5-0 decision to advance to the semifinals of the 2024 Olympics at Arena Paris Nord.

Jones is carrying a heavy weight on his shoulders as he remains the lone American standing of the eight boxers who were sent to France for this year’s Olympics. Men’s 57 kilogram boxer Jahmal Harvey of Oxon Hill, Md. had also made it to the quarterfinal round, but lost a 3-2 decision to Munarbek Seiitbek Uulu of Kyrgyzstan.

Jones came out aggressively in the opening round, looking to start his attack to the body and then follow up to the head of his southpaw opponent. Kiwan looked to get back into the fight in the second round as he attempted to counter with straight left hands whenever Jones attacked. Jones showed he could counterpunch as well, appearing to drop Kiwan with a check hook midway through the second, though it was ruled a slip.

Jones’ technical superiority earned him the first two rounds on all five judges’ scorecards, meaning he didn’t have to take any risks to advance to the final four of his weight class. Kiwan began to sell out in the third, searching for a knockout blow while Jones just boxed safely to the final bell.

Jones will return to action on Tuesday, August 6 when he faces Uzbekistan’s Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev in the 71-kilogram semifinals. Muydinkhujaev, 23, is the 2023 World Championships gold medalist in that weight, and was able to earn his spot in the semis with a 5-0 decision win over Nikolai Terteryan of Denmark.

Imane Khelif, the Algerian female boxer who has been at the center of a gender controversy at the Paris Games, showed no ill effects from the social media chatter, scoring a 5-0 decision over Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori to advance to the medal rounds of the women’s 66 kilogram division.

Khelif, a cisgender woman who was mostly unknown before becoming tabloid front page news the world over, let out tears of joy after scoring the victory, as a flood of emotion outpoured following the drama of the previous days.

Hamori, who had posted and deleted a meme depicting Khelif as a subhuman being, brought a different attitude to the ring, touching gloves after a competitive first round where Khelif’s dominant jab and accurate right hands earned her the round on all five cards.

Hamori, 23, took the punches much better than did Khelif’s previous opponent, Italy’s Angela Carini, who took two punches from Khelif and quit less than a minute into their bout last Thursday.

Khelif continued to land looping punches over the top as her compatriots showed up in force to cheer her on.

Hamori appeared to be distressed in the corner after the second round, realizing that the fight was slipping away. Khelif was deducted a point in the third round for holding after the two tangled up and tumbled to the canvas a pair of times.

Khelif and Hamori showed respect to one another after the final bell.

“I dedicate this medal to the world, and to all the Arabs and I tell you, ‘Long live Algeria!’,” said Khelif to reporters afterwards.

“I want to tell the entire world that I am a female, and I will remain a female.”

Next, Khelif will face Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng, a 23-year-old who had won gold at the 2023 Southeast Asian Games and silver at the 2023 World Championships and 2022 Asian Games.

Suwannapheng advanced to the semifinals with a 4-1 decision over Turkey’s Busenaz Surmeneli.

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