Jake Paul has offered boxer Angela Carini an opportunity to fight on one of his cards after the Italian quit 46 seconds into her Olympic boxing match with Imane Khelif on Thursday.
Carini’s Algerian – who failed a gender eligibility test last year – landed a meaningful punch before the Italian pulled out of the contest.
The pair were competing in the women’s 66kg category, in a round-of-16 bout in Paris, with Carini left distraught after her dream ended.
“To Angela Carini although your dreams couldn’t come true today because of the crazy agendas that are at play in our world at the moment,” Paul said. “I would love to offer you to fight on an MVP undercard, to show the world your talents on a fair platform and not against a man. Internet help this find her.”
Paul then followed up his post with another invitation in Italian as the Olympics contends with the latest scandal to hit Paris 2024.
The YouTuber-turned-boxer also runs Most Valuable Promotions, which has supported women’s boxing, including world champion Amanda Serrano, by featuring female fighters in prominent spots on his cards.
After an early pause in the contest, as Carini adjusted her head guard, Khelif connected with a powerful, accurate shot. Carini immediately turned to her corner and quickly motioned that her fight was over, with the referee officially awarding the bout to the Algerian.
Once Khelif had her hand was raised, Carini was left distraught in the ring, sinking to her knees in tears, while snubbing Khelif’s attempts to embrace.
Carini was also heard yelling at her coach: “It’s not right, it’s not right!” The 25-year-old soon told reporters that she had never been punched so hard in her career. Khelif, also 25, did not stop to answer questions.
Last year, Khelif was disqualified hours before her gold-medal bout at the women’s World Championships in New Delhi, after she failed to meet the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) eligibility criteria. Taiwan’s double world champion Lin Yu-ting lost her bronze medal at the same competition, after she too failed to meet the criteria. Lin is due to compete at the Olympics on Friday.
The IBA did not specify why the boxers failed their gender eligibility tests but did clarify that neither underwent testosterone examinations. Neither Khelif, 25, nor two-time world champion Lin, 28, identifies as transgender or intersex.
The World Championships were organised by the IBA, which is no longer a federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee. The boxing competition at the Paris Olympics is being organised by the Paris Boxing Unit (PBU), an ad-hoc unit established by the IOC’s Executive Board.
The IOC said in a statement at the start of the tournament: “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 in accordance with rules 1.4 and 3.1 of the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit.
“The PBU endeavoured to restrict amendments to minimise the impact on athletes’ preparation and guaranteeing consistency between Olympic Games.”
Carini said after her fight on Thursday: “For me, it’s not a defeat. For me, when you climb those ropes, you’re already a warrior; you’re already a winner. Regardless of everything, it’s okay, fine like this.
“I didn’t lose tonight […] I only did my job as a fighter. I got in the ring and I fought. I didn’t make it. I’m coming out with my head held high and with a broken heart.
“I’m a mature woman. The ring is my life. I’ve always been very instinctive, and when I feel that something isn’t right, it’s not giving up. It’s having the maturity to stop, it’s having the maturity to say: ‘OK, that’s enough.’”
“I got in the ring and I said: ‘I’m going to give it all I’ve got, regardless of the person in front of me, who doesn’t interest me at this moment.’ I had to give my best. So, with regard to all the controversies, I was never interested. I went in and I just wanted to win.”
Speaking to the BBC, she added: “It could have been the match of a lifetime, but I had to preserve my life as well in that moment.”
Additional reporting by Reuters