A furious Ebanie Bridges told talkSPORT she’d refuse to fight Imane Khelif amid the huge boxing controversy at the Olympics.
Algerian fighter Khelif was cleared to box in the women’s welterweight competition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) despite being excluded from the Women’s World Boxing Championship in India last year for failing a gender eligibility test.
International Boxing Association (IBA) president, Umar Kremlev, said DNA tests on Khelif, as well as Taiwan boxer Lin Yu-ting, ‘proved they had XY chromosomes and were thus excluded’.
The IBA, though, doesn’t run Olympic boxing, which allowed the IOC to rule on whether Khelif could or couldn’t compete.
Both received the go-ahead and Khelif is through to the quarter-finals as last 16 opponent Angela Carini, who signalled to her corner to stop the fight 46 seconds into it taking just two punches from Khelif.
A tearful Carini had returned to the centre of the ring as the final decision was read out and her fate was confirmed.
She snubbed a handshake from Khelif, before yelling ‘this is unjust’ in a furious and frustrated outburst and later explained she had never been hit as hard as that before.
The Italian has received plenty of support across the boxing world, including from Jake Paul, who’s offered her the chance to compete on one of his MVP undercards.
Bridges is another boxer who has thrown her weight behind Carini and insists the situation has turned her off the Games. “I don’t want to watch it, I’m off on it. I think it’s too extreme, it’s too much,” she told talkSPORT.
The former female IBF bantamweight champion also suggested the IOC need to do more to level the playing field.
Asked what her message to the governing body was, Bridges said: “Wake the f*** up. Honestly. I’m all about inclusivity, but this is such a minority and it’s taking away girls dreams.
“It’s just not fair. Cut the woke s*** and let’s be real here. Look at the science.
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“You’re not just XY you’ve actually been tested to have high testosterone… it’s not fair, it’s ridiculous and getting out of control.
“And don’t bring it to combat sports. It’s wrong for any sport.”
Bridges also suggested that had she been drawn against Khelif, she wouldn’t have even taken to the ring in the first place.
Asked if she would feel comfortable fighting an athlete with XY chromosomes, as opposed to the female XX chromosomes, Bridges said: “No, I wouldn’t.
“I just think it’s wrong. I wouldn’t do it… I wouldn’t risk it.
“And I’m tough, I’m a hard a***. You know what I mean, but I wouldn’t do it and I wouldn’t want to give them that to share the ring with me, because it’s unfair.
“You know you’ve got more testosterone, you know you’ve got XY chromosomes. That’s like knowing you’ve got a biological advantage.”
The IOC responded to the controversy later on Thursday with a lengthy statement.
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It read: “Every person has the right to practise sport without discrimination.
“All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations set by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU).
“As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age of the athletes are based on their passport.
“These rules also applied during the qualification period, including the boxing tournaments of the 2023 European Games, Asian Games, Pan American Games and Pacific Games, the ad hoc 2023 African qualifying tournament in Dakar (SEN) and two world qualifying tournaments held in Busto Arsizio (ITA) and Bangkok (THA) in 2024, which involved a total of 1,471 different boxers from 172 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), the Boxing Refugee Team and Individual Neutral Athletes, and featured over 2,000 qualification bouts.
“The PBU used the Tokyo 2020 boxing rules as a baseline to develop its regulations for Paris 2024.
“This was to minimise the impact on athletes’ preparations and guarantee consistency between Olympic Games.
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“These Tokyo 2020 rules were based on the post-Rio 2016 rules, which were in place before the suspension of the boxing International Federation by the IOC in 2019 and the subsequent withdrawal of its recognition in 2023.
“We have seen in reports misleading information about two female athletes competing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
“The two athletes have been competing in international boxing competitions for many years in the women’s category, including the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, International Boxing Association (IBA) World Championships and IBA-sanctioned tournaments.
“These two athletes were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA.
“Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process.
“According to the IBA minutes available on their website, this decision was initially taken solely by the IBA Secretary General and CEO.
“The IBA Board only ratified it afterwards and only subsequently requested that a procedure to follow in similar cases in the future be established and reflected in the IBA Regulations.
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“The minutes also say that the IBA should ‘establish a clear procedure on gender testing’.
“The current aggression against these two athletes is based entirely on this arbitrary decision, which was taken without any proper procedure – especially considering that these athletes had been competing in top-level competition for many years.
“Such an approach is contrary to good governance.
“Eligibility rules should not be changed during ongoing competition, and any rule change must follow appropriate processes and should be based on scientific evidence.
“The IOC is committed to protecting the human rights of all athletes participating in the Olympic Games as per the Olympic Charter, the IOC Code of Ethics and the IOC Strategic Framework on Human Rights.
“The IOC is saddened by the abuse that the two athletes are currently receiving.
“The IBA’s recognition was withdrawn by the IOC in 2023 following its suspension in 2019.
“The withdrawal of recognition was confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
“The IOC has made it clear that it needs National Boxing Federations to reach a consensus around a new International Federation in order for boxing to be included on the sports programme of the Olympic Games LA28.”
The IOC has never banned an international governing body from running a sport in its 130-year history, but that all changed in June 2023 when the IBA was stripped of its status as the sport’s world governing body.
The IOC’s executive board had recommended the move after the IBA failed to meet set reforms following its 2019 suspension over governance issues and alleged corruption.
The IBA took its appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which ruled that it had not made enough change in financial transparency, integrity of officials and its culture.
Boxing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics was also organised by the IOC but it has no plans to oversee boxing at the Los Angeles Games in 2028.
The sport is not currently on the programme for LA, but World Boxing, which was founded in 2023 to try and replace the IBA, wants to be recognised boxing can take place in four years.
All eyes will now be on Lin Yu-ting, who faces Sitora Turdibekova in the women’s 57kg category on Friday.
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