Boxing’s place in the Olympics has been under threat for years, but the sport has retained its place for at least one more cycle, and as men and women from around the world lace up their gloves and try to bring home medals from Paris, the fights will begin on July 27 and end on August 8. 10.

The men’s side of the competition will consist of seven weight classes, while the women will expand to six weight classes for the first time, having first joined the Olympic Games with just three weight classes in London in 2012.

Men will compete in flyweight (51 kg), featherweight (57 kg), lightweight (63.5 kg), welterweight (71 kg), middleweight (80 kg), heavyweight (92 kg) and super heavyweight (92 kg+). Women will box in the flyweight (50 kg), bantamweight (54 kg), featherweight (57 kg), lightweight (60 kg), welterweight (66 kg) and middleweight (75 kg) categories.

Team USA boxing lineup for the Paris Olympics

Historically, the United States is an Olympic boxing powerhouse, having won more medals in the sport than any other country, and by a significant margin. Since 1904, Americans have won 117 medals, followed by Cuba with 78 and Great Britain in third with 62.

But recent years haven’t been kind to the Team USA boxing program. No male boxer has won a gold medal for the country since Andre Ward in 2004. In 2008, the Americans won only one medal, a bronze for Deontay Wilder, and in 2012 the men won zero medals, with gold for Claressa Shields and bronze for Marlen Esparza on a completely novel women’s side.

In 2016, Shields repeated their success by winning a second gold, and the men returned to the podium, with Shakur Stevenson winning the silver medal and Nico Hernandez bronze. In Tokyo, Richard Torrez, Keyshawn Davis and Duke Ragan won silver, becoming the most successful U.S. men’s team in nearly two decades, although they still missed gold, and Oshae Jones won bronze in the women’s division.

Featherweight Jahmal Harvey is seen as the nation’s best hope, having won the first men’s gold medal since Ward fought in Athens, when the 21-year-old Harvey, still a little shy, made it to his second birthday. He won gold at the 2021 World Championships and another gold at the 2023 Pan American Games.

Roscoe Hill (flyweight), Omari Jones (welterweight) and Joshua Edwards (super heavyweight) will also compete in the men’s tournament. Edwards also won gold at the Pan American Games, but finds himself in a league with a huge and clear favorite in Bakhodir Jalolov of Uzbekistan, who won gold in Tokyo.

On the women’s side, Team USA fields Jennifer Lozano (flyweight), Alyssa Mendoza (featherweight), Jajaira Gonzalez (lightweight) and Morelle McCane (welterweight).

Names from around the world to watch

Two Cubans – Arlen Lopez and Julio Cesar La Cruz – will be looking to join elite company as each fights for a third Olympic gold medal, a feat achieved only three times in Olympic boxing history. The Cubans didn’t have their best showing at the Pan American Games, but their five-man squad is still quite powerful.

The already mentioned Bakhodir Jalolov from Uzbekistan returns to the games, which allows people with professional experience to take part in the competition. Jalolov is 14-0 (14 KO) as a professional and dominated the field in Tokyo a few years ago, and he will be expected to do so again in Paris. He said this could be his last Olympics, even if boxing retains its spot in Los Angeles in 2028 and beyond.

Kamshibek Kunkabayev of Kazakhstan, who won the bronze medal in Tokyo, may be the biggest threat to Jałolov, but Australian Teremoana Junior and Briton Delicious Orie also have intriguing potential.

The two top amateurs looking to repeat as gold medalists in the women’s category are Turkey’s Busenaz Sürmeneli and Ireland’s Kellie Harrington.

Harrington has been compared to country girl and living legend Katie Taylor for obvious reasons, but in April she suffered her first defeat in three years, beating Serbian Natalia Shadrina.

Sürmeneli dominated in Tokyo and most expect her to repeat it without any major problems. She doesn’t seem to have any interest in turning professional and if she continues to fight as well as she has, we can expect her to return to the Los Angeles Olympics if boxing is still an Olympic sport.

Jake Paul took a tough dig at Conor McGregor and the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) at today’s press conference ahead of Saturday’s fight with Mike Perry.

McGregor recently said BKFC standout Perry struggled with a “dweeb” at Paul, who returned fire. McGregor is co-owner of BKFC.

“You’ll see what I will do with (BKFC’s) best player on Saturday night. I will be an embarrassment to their entire league,” Paul said. “This guy has no skills. They are just brawlers, idiots, street fighters who have no idea what this sweet science is.

“Conor McGregor can say whatever he wants, but he won’t fight me either. When I knock out Mike Perry and Conor McGregor, let’s do it. But you won’t do it because you know what will happen. You saw what I did to Nate Diaz, who you fought side by side with. Conor McGregor, quit cocaine, go to the gym and start winning fights. Maybe then we could talk.”

Paul (9-1, 6 KO) said he watched videos of Perry, including a “threesome boxing match,” from which he concluded Saturday night would be “tiny.”

“Skills are what pays the bills. And there is no footwork, no head movement, no defense,” Paul said. “He’s a great offensive and bare-knuckle fighter, but when it comes to boxing, he’ll be picked apart very quickly and it’ll be a tiny night. As I said, my predictions are never wrong, so every time I manifest in reality, I stand my ground. I, Jake Joseph Paul, will knock out Mike Perry in less than two rounds. It will happen, put your money on it.”

Paul said he respected Perry’s power, “but other than that, it’ll be effortless.”

Jake, of course, also has a November match scheduled against Mike Tyson, which was scheduled for Saturday before it was canceled due to Tyson’s health issues. Tyson has expressed some reluctance to do the Paul vs. Perry fight because a bad result could jeopardize that fight from happening at all, as well as many other things that could jeopardize Paul vs. Tyson from happening at all.

“I love taking risks and taking part in gigantic events,” Paul said. “Mike Tyson called and was concerned that this fight would jeopardize the biggest fight of my career. That’s what puts pressure on me and I love it. I’m not slowing down for anyone. Mike Perry won’t be the one to stop me. I’m on my way to the world championship.”

Undisputed super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue will officially face TJ Doheny in a triple title fight on September 3 at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena.

Notably, the announcement stated that Inoue (27-0, 24 KO) would defend all four of his titles, meaning the WBA has not followed through on an outstanding order for Inoue to face Murodjon Akhmadaliev.

As mentioned earlier, Doheny (26-4, 20 KO) is a familiar face to the Japanese audience, having fought his last three fights in the Land of the Rising Sun. He’s also 37 years aged and has entered a three-fight streak with a 2-4 skid, making him much more financially attractive than competitive in “The Monster.”

In another championship fight, WBO bantamweight champion Yoshiki Takei (9-0, 8 KO) will face former flyweight champion Daigo Higa (21-2-1, 19 KO) in his inaugural defense. Takei is coming off an entertaining decision win over Jason Moloney that saw him near a final-round disaster, while Higa is 6-1-1 since JBC forced him to move up to 118 pounds after missing weight in a match against Cristofer Rosales, including an aged loss to future champion Ryosuke Nishida and a draw against current challenger and potential title challenger Seiya Tsutsumi.

Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz is scheduled to fight Jose Valenzuela on August 3, WBA interim super lightweight champion Ismael Barroso (25-4-2, 23 KO) will face Andy Hiraoka (23-0, 18) for the first time since January KO). . This is an incredibly overdue step for Hiraoka after the 2021 knockout of Jin Sasaki (17-1-1, 16 KO), who also fights Qamil Balla (15-1-1, 8 KO).