American boxer Omari Jones is making a name for himself at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Jones, a native of Orlando, Florida, took one step closer to winning a gold medal when he defeated Bulgaria’s Rami Mofid Kiwan 5-0 on Saturday. The rising star is now set to fight Uzbekistan’s Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev in the semifinals on Tuesday.
According to the USA Boxing, Jones is the lone American still left in the boxing competition at the Paris games. The 21-year-old Florida native is guaranteed to walk away with at least a bronze medal in Paris. Jones can become the first American boxer to win a gold medal since Andre Ward in 2004, according to Spectrum News 13.
Always a dream. Never a doubt.
Omari Jones scores a clean unanimous decision to qualify for the semifinals and guarantee himself a medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games! He takes on Uzbekistan on Tuesday for a shot at the finals. pic.twitter.com/X59L24RFdq
— USA Boxing (@USABoxing) August 3, 2024
https://twitte.com/USABoxing/status/1819762094218391614
Jones won four consecutive fights to qualify for the Paris games. The Orlando native secured one of those wins at the 2024 Olympic Games World Qualifying Tournament in Busto Arsizio, Italy, defeating Nishant Dev with a 4-1 decision in the 71-kilogram division.
Jones has continued to dominate after arriving in Paris. In the 71-kilogram round of 16 bout, Jones secured a 5-0 win against Kan Chia Wei of Taiwan. He then advanced to Saturday’s match against Kiwan and clinched a resounding victory.
Jones hopes to add more accolades to his decorated resume, which includes gold medals from the Czech Republic Grand Prix and the 2023 GeeBee International Tournament held in Helsinki, Finland. He also went to Belgrade, Serbia and won a silver medal at the 2021 Elite World Championship.
Jones is a 21-year-old college student who attends Valencia College and majors in business. As reported by Boxing Scene, he also has a clothing company.
He said, “I feel like education was instilled in me since a child. My two brothers graduated from college. 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.”
When he asked about his chances of winning a gold medal ahead of the Olympics, he said, “I just feel like my style and my belief and the game plan that I have that I’ve put in so much work. I feel like I’m in Year 13 right now. Everything that I’ve been through to get to this point, it just showed when it came down to the Olympic qualifying match. I was in a position I wasn’t really familiar with, but I had to adjust to blood streaming down both eyes… my face.”
