Famed boxing promoter Eddie Hearn addresses Olympics 2024 controversy over gender test failed athletes competing in women's boxing
Eddie Hearn chimed in with his thoughts on two female boxers who previously failed to meet the gender eligibility criteria, competing against women at the Olympics 2024. The boxers in question, Algeria's Imane Khelif and Taiwan's Lin Yu-Ting, were disqualified from the 2023 women's world championships after tests raised questions over their gender.
The International Boxing Association (IBA) president Umar Kremlov even claimed that both athletes were found to have "XY chromosomes" and were men "pretending to be women." The International Olympic Committee's decision to allow Khelif and Yu-Ting to compete has proven to be extremely controversial.
Recently, IOC spokesperson Mark Adams defended the decision, stating that both boxers are complying with the eligibility rules to compete in women's divisions.
In a recent interview with Boxing Social, Eddie Hearn, a renowned boxing promoter, shared his thoughts on the situation and hinted at the need to review the female eligibility criteria in sports where physical damage is involved:
"I don't know if there is even a debate. I don't know enough about the situation, about the athletes, who and what not. But the only thing I will say is, in my opinion, if you are born male, you should not be competing against females. That's my bread-and-butter opinion."
He added:
"Particularly in a sport, by the way, [where physical damage is involved]. I'm not saying there should be different rules for different sports. But if there are different arguments for sports that aren't physical... In a sport [in which] you can receive physical damage, it is a very different conversation, a different debate, than in another sport."
Check out Eddie Hearn's comments below:
Khelif is set to fight Italian boxer Angela Carini in the 66 kg weight class on August 1. Meanwhile, Yu-Ting will face the winner of a last-32 bout in the 57-kg weight class on August 2.
Eddie Hearn reacts to Great Britain's Delicious Orie's loss at the Paris Olympics 2024
At the Paris Olympics 2024, Great Britain's boxing squad was off to a disappointing start as five boxers who have competed so far have lost in the first round. However, super heavyweight boxer Delicious Orie's controversial loss against Armenia's Davit Chaloyan has come under criticism.
Many felt that the Brit had done enough to secure the win on the scorecards, but the judges scored the bout in Chaloyan's favor.
Speaking further in the aforementioned interview with Boxing Social, Eddie Hearn shared his thoughts on Orie's exit:
“I haven’t seen the [Delicious Orie] fight, I was just following it on socials and obviously most people thought that Delicious won the fight. It has been a disastrous start for Team GB, I think we have only got one or two fighters left – Lewis Richardson and one other fighter as well. It’s disappointing, hopefully those guys can come through, I am gutted for Delicious Orie, it sounds like he won the fight but it is amateur boxing." [H/T Boxing Social]