Omari Jones (Orlando, Fla.) looks to make history for Team USA in Paris as the talented 71-kg boxer is just two wins away from becoming the first American male boxer to win an Olympic gold medal since Andre Ward in 2004.
“I constantly hear it, but it is my turn now and I got to get the job done” Jones stated on the possibility of being the first male boxer to win gold in 20 years. “I don’t feel no pressure. It is the same ring I have been fighting in for years. So, it is just me going out here and doing what I was born to do.”
By earning a spot in the semifinals, Omari Jones has already guaranteed himself a position on the podium and has garnered at least a bronze medal. The 71 kg American boxer is the first middleweight boxer to claim a medal since Andre Dirrell, who won bronze in 2004 at the Athens Olympic Games. Jones will be the latest medal winner for Team USA, joining the ranks of many stars before him, the most recent of which include the 2020 medalists, Duke Ragan, Keyshawn Davis, Oshae Jones and Richard Torrez.
Jones will face off against Uzbekistan’s two-time national champion Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev in the semifinals on Tuesday, August 6, at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Jones, the 2021 Worlds Silver medalist, has dominated at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with unanimous decisions in each of his two bouts. Jones defeated Kan Chia Wei out of Taiwan in his debut before downing Bulgaria’s Rami Mofid Kiwan in the quarterfinals.
As for the Uzbekistan boxer, his path to the semi-finals in the Olympic Games mirrors Jones’ and includes a pair of unanimous decisions over Egypt and Denmark.
