American boxer Omari Jones has won the only medal in the sport for his country at the 2024 Olympics. Jones walked away with a bronze medal when he lost to Uzbekistan’s Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev in the men’s welterweight division semifinals on Tuesday. As part of the single-elimination format in the Olympics, the bronze medal goes to the losing semifinalists, USA Today reported.
Team USA’s honorary coach Jake Paul criticized the judges after Jones lost.
“Absolute robbery,’’ Paul tweeted. ‘Omari Jones won every round of that fight with ease.”
Absolute robbery. Omari Jones won every round of that fight with ease.
Can’t believe boxing sometimes… shits a real shame.
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) August 6, 2024
As Blavity reported, Jones advanced to the semifinals after defeating Bulgaria’s Rami Mofid Kiwan 5-0 on August 3. He also won 5-0 against Taiwan’s Kan Chia Wei in the 71-kilogram round of 16 bout.
The 21-year-old, who is studying business at Valencia College, won four consecutive matches to qualify for the 2024 Olympics. He earned one of those wins at the 2024 Olympic Games World Qualifying Tournament in Italy, where he competed in the 71-kilogram division and defeated Nishant Dev with a 4-1 decision.
Jones holds many more accolades on his resume. The rising star owns gold medals from the Czech Republic Grand Prix and the 2023 GeeBee International Tournament in Helsinki, Finland.
The U.S. is hoping to get back to the glory days of boxing. Andre Ward was the last American male to win an Olympic gold medal in 2004. The last American woman to win gold was Claressa Shields. She earned her victories in 2012 and 2016, per USA Today.
Jones, who also owns a clothing company, is determined to find success beyond boxing.
“I feel like education was instilled in me since a child. My two brothers graduated from college,” Jones said, per Boxing Scene. “So, I knew I wanted to make something out of college. I knew I was going to go to school for something, even if I don’t know for what. Even if I don’t get a masters [degree] and all of that, I’m going to get some type of degree after high school. So that was always instilled in me. I want to be able to look at contracts and run my website and my business that I have now with my clothing brand and stuff. Just things like that are what I’m looking at in the future. I want to be able to see things my way and be able to max out my money the best way I can.”
