The Paris 2024 Olympics is now in full swing and no sport is under the microscope as much of boxing, as original fears that this could be the last time boxing appears in the games have been trumped by an even more controversial subject. With few better placed to offer an opinion on the matter, Eddie Hearn has declared that ‘the world has gone crazy’.
Great Britain managed six medals at Tokyo 2020, making them the most successful British team in over a century and it was always a difficult act to follow for the members of the 2024 squad. However, despite lowered expectations, British boxers have underwhelmed in Paris, with all five fighters that have competed thus far being knocked out in the first-round.
The elimination of super-heavyweight Delicious Orie stands out as the most controversial exit, as many spectators felt as though he had done enough to trump Armenia’s Davit Chaloyan, but that was not the case in the eyes of the judges. Speaking with Boxing Social, Eddie Hearn labelled the campaign as ‘disastrous’.
“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.
“Beatriz Ferriera for us [Matchroom] is through and that is a big chance for her to win gold, she could meet Katie Harrington later in the tournament which would be a tough fight. I am going to try and get to Paris actually to watch some of it, but not a great start for Team GB and hopefully we can pull it back.”
In most years, the failures of the Team GB squad would dominate the headlines, however their disappointment has been overshadowed by another pressing matter this year.
Instead, newspaper outlets remain focussed on the IOC’s decision to allow Imane Khalif and Lin Yu-ting to compete as females, despite both being disqualified from last year’s World Championships for failing gender eligibility tests, a decision which was slammed by Hearn.
“I don’t know if there is even a debate. I don’t know enough about the situation, I don’t know enough about the athletes but the only thing that I will say is that, in my opinion, if you are born male, you should not be competing against females.
“In a sport where you can receive physical damage, it is a very different conversation to a debate in another sport. In boxing, that is my opinion.
“The world has gone a little bit crazy and common sense is a thing of the past.”
Lewis Richardson remains as the final hope for Team GB, as he hopes to get Britain’s first win of Paris 2024 against Serbia’s Vakhid Abbasov in the 71kg division at 7:48pm BST tonight (July 31).
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