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USA Boxing Olympics Update From Paris 2024

Published

July 30, 2024

Gayle Falkenthal

USA Boxing Olympics Update From Paris 2024

Two members of the USA Boxing Olympic squad make their debuts on Tuesday, July 31, in Paris. They are two of the five boxers remaining in competition from the eight-person team.

All boxing events can be viewed live and on-demand on the Peacock streaming platform. Select competition may be aired on the USA and CNBC cable networks. If Americans make it to the medal rounds, they may get prime-time exposure on NBC. All times are Eastern. Additional fights listed depend on each competitor winning their prior bout.

NOTE: Wins and losses will be continually updated.

USA Boxing Olympics Update Schedule

On Tuesday, featherweight Omari Jones of Orlando, Florida, will make his first appearance. He will face Kan Chia-wei of Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) at 5:48 am Eastern Time on Peacock live and on demand.

Jones qualified to compete in Paris at the Olympic Games World Qualification Tournament in Italy. Jones, age 21, won consecutive golds at the 2023 GeeBee International Tournament and the Czech Republic Grand Prix at 71 KG (super welterweight). Jones is a counterpuncher and doesn’t always get the credit he deserves from the judges. A win gets him into the medal rounds.

Jahmal Harvey is a crowd-pleasing performer with hopes of Olympic glory. Photo: USA Boxing

Next up, Jahmal Harvey of Oxon Hill, Maryland, fights at 10:02 a.m. Eastern Time. He faces Luis Oliviera of Brazil, a 23-year-old southpaw with a solid amateur record and good power. Harvey will need to leverage his speed and technical skills to avoid getting caught by Oliviera while scoring the points needed in an amateur fight to advance.

Harvey won a gold medal at the recent Pan American Games and is a multiple gold medalist at high-level amateur events. The 21-year-old featherweight (57 KG) would love to make it two American medals in the featherweight division, improving on Duke Ragan’s silver medal in Tokyo. He is considered the most likely medalist on Team USA and would be the first male gold medalist since Andre Ward in Athens in 2004.

The last American to win a gold medal in boxing is undisputed world middleweight champion Claressa Shields in 2016.

Mendoza Advances To Round of 16

Lightweight Alyssa Mendoza of Caldwell, Idaho, had fans at home cheering her first victory. Photo: USA Boxing

Also remaining in the USA Boxing Olympic Update mix, lightweight competitor Alyssa Mendoza had everyone in Caldwell, Idaho (57 KG) watching at home as she won her first-round bout on Tuesday. It was a nail-biter 3-2 decision victory over Mijgona Samadova of Tajikistan.

Mendoza has advanced to the Round of 16. On Friday morning, she will face Jucielen Cerqueira Romeu of Brazil. Another Idaho watch party is in the works to cheer her on.

Mendoza punched her ticket to the Paris Olympics with a bronze medal win in the 2023 Pan American Games. She finished second at the 2016 Olympic trials, took a break from boxing, and now hopes to write a new chapter with a solid performance in Paris. At age 20, she is the youngest member of the team. While she’s an underdog, Mendoza would like to defy the odds and follow in Ragan’s footsteps as well.

Lozano and McCane Await Bouts Thursday

Monelle McCane and Jennifer Lozano await their first bouts in Paris. Photo: USA Boxing

The final two competitors debut in the Round of 16 on Thursday, August 1, at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Jennifer Lozano, the first-ever Olympic athlete from Laredo, Texas, and a 2023 Pan American Games silver medalist, won her opening round bout at light flyweight (50 kg) and will now face Pihlo Kaivo-Oha of Finland. A win will put her in the medal hunt.

Morelle McMane, Cleveland, Ohio’s first woman amateur to qualify for the Olympic Games, will face Uzbekistan's Navbakhor Khamidovaat 66 KG (welterweight) in the Round of 16 on Thursday. Khamidova, age 23, is the defending Asian Games champion. McMane, age 29, started boxing as a teen but has been in and out of the sport as she navigated challenges in her life.

Gonzalez, Edwards, and Hill Exit

Roscoe Hill took a narrow loss in his Olympic effort. Photo: USA Boxing

The remaining members of Team USA have ended their Olympic experiences in the ring and will cheer on their remaining teammates.

After Jajaira Gonzalez of Glendora, California, won her first match against 2016 Olympic gold medalist Estelle Mossely of France, she ran straight into 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Beatriz Ferreira of Brazil, who is also the current IBF Women's Lightweight champion as a pro. Gonzalez performed well but lost by a decision of 5-0.

Heavyweight Roscoe Edwards battled through all three rounds against Diego Lenzi of Italy. Lenzi won the first round, but Edwards took the second round. But when Edwards lost a point for ducking his head, a legal defensive move to avoid being punched, the bout tilted in favor of Lenzi.

Flyweight division entrant Roscoe Hill of Spring, Texas, won his first contest by a score of 5-0 to make it into the round of 16. He didn't have an easy draw, defeating Omid Ahmadisafa of Iran, who competes for the IOC Refugee team. Hill then fell despite a solid effort to the number one seed on Tuesday, Billal Bennama from the host nation France. The decision was 3-2 in Bennama’s favor.

Paris Olympics International Boxing Watch Update

Cindy Ngamba of Cameroon has battled multiple obstacles to make it to the Paris Olympics.

Women's Featherweight (57 KG): Nesthy Petecio of the Philippines remains in the Round of 16 with a shutout win over Jaismine of India, 5-0. Petecio emulates the great Manny Pacquiao with a high-volume punch output. She is the Tokyo 2020 silver medalist and thrives in front of the live crowd in France.

Women's Middleweights (66 KG): Tammara Thibeault of Canada will face Cindy Ngamba, a Cameroonian native now living in Great Britain, already sponsored by Nike and a member of the IOC Refugee Team, in the Round of 16 on Wednesday.

Citlalli Ortiz of Mexico, who formerly competed for the United States and lives in the Coachella Valley, faces Caitlin Parker of Australia. Aoife O’Rourke of Ireland faces Elzbieta Wojcik of Poland, and Li Qian of China takes on Hergie Bacyadan of the Philippines.

Men's Junior Welterweight (63.5 KG): Erislandy Alvarez of Cuba, Pan American Games gold medalist Wyatt Sanford of Canada, Ruslan Adulleav of Uzbekistan, and local favorite Sofiane Oumiha of France all won their first rounds bouts. In a stunner, popular favorite Harry Garside of Australia was out after his first round on Monday. Sanford is the dark horse, hoping to win Canada’s first boxing medal in 28 years.

Men's Light Heavyweight (80 KG): Arlen Lopez of Cuba is already a two-time Olympic gold medalist (Rio 2016 at middleweight, Tokyo 2020 at light heavyweight) and is the current odds-on favorite to win the division after winning his first bout with ease.

Heavyweight (92 KG): In a shocker, Lopez’s countryman Julio De La Cruz lost his first-round bout and his opportunity to win a third Olympic gold medal.

Teremoana of Australia (right) with British Olympic medalist and heavyweight prospect Frazer Clarke.

In an impressive performance Monday, Teremoana Junior of Australia won by first-round TKO over Dmytro Lovchynskyi of Ukraine. Teremoana, a sparring partner of cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia and British heavyweight Frazer Clarke, who won bronze at the Tokyo Games, was overpowering, scoring several knockdowns before the referee stopped the fight.

Tokyo 2020 gold medalist Bakhodir Jalolov of Uzbekistan breezed to a 5-0 win over Omar Shiha of Norway. Jalolov was dominating with a first-round knockdown and third-round standing eight counts. Junior and Jalolov are on a collision course for a spectacular showdown in the quarterfinals.