'Doesn’t matter what you believe. This is wrong and dangerous,' Paul says
Arguably the most prominent name in boxing has spoken out about the gender controversy in the Olympics.
After Angela Carini quit her fight against a boxer deemed to have XY chromosomes, Jake Paul called the ordeal "sickening" and "a travesty."
"Doesn’t matter what you believe. This is wrong and dangerous," Paul wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Imane Khelif of Algeria defeated Carini, who lasted all of 46 seconds before going to her corner to call off the fight.
Khelif celebrated the win while Carini was left in tears. After the fight, Carini, was heard yelling to her coaches in Italian, questioning the fairness of the bout.
"I got into the ring to fight," she said, via Italy’s ANSA. "I didn't give up, but one punch hurt too much, and so I said enough. I'm going out with my head held high."
Consdering she opted not to continue fighting, Paul instead invited her to an undercard for his brand, Most Valuable Promotions (Paul's fight against Mike Tyson in November will be an MVP card).
"To Angela Carini although your dreams couldn’t come true today because of the crazy agendas that are at play in our world at the moment, I would love to offer you to fight on an MVP undercard, to show the world your talents on a fair platform," Paul wrote.
Khelif fought under a firestorm of controversy regarding a failed gender eligibility test in 2023.
Khelif was disqualified during the 2023 World Championships, sanctioned by the International Boxing Association. The organization said Khelif, and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting failed to meet gender eligibility standards.
IBA president Umar Kremlev explained the decision at the time, according to Russia’s Tass News Agency. Reuters reported at the time that Khelif tested positive for having high levels of testosterone.
"Based on DNA tests, we identified a number of athletes who tried to trick their colleagues into posing as women. According to the results of the tests, it was proved that they have XY chromosomes. Such athletes were excluded from competition," Kremlev said.
The IBA added on Wednesday that its test found Khelif had "competitive advantages over other female competitors."
Khelif and the Algerian Olympic Committee (COA) both denied the claims that Khelif has XY chromosomes.
The International Olympic Committee also cleared Khelif to compete in the Games and defended Khelif in a statement on Thursday.
