Angela Carini, the Italian Olympic boxer who lost her match to the controversial Algerian boxer who failed a male sex test, has come roaring back to win her eighth Italian women’s title last weekend.
“Tonight was my revenge,” Carini proclaimed proudly on Sunday after winning the title, according to Fox News.
Carini was the Olympic boxer who famously lost her bout in only 46 seconds against Algerian opponent Imane Khelif at the 2024 Olympics in Paris this year.
The Italian withdrew from the ring after receiving several very powerful blows to her head. After her bout, she said she had never been hit so hard by an opponent in her entire boxing career.
“I got into the ring to fight,” Carini said after the Olympic match. “I didn’t give up, but one punch hurt too much. And, so, I said ‘enough.’”
Khelif instantly became the center of controversy for being allowed to compete as a female in the International Olympic Games in Paris this year, even after being banned in 2023 by the International Boxing Association (IBA) for allegedly testing positive for male XY chromosomes.
Olympic boxing trainer Rafa Lozano even pointed out that Khelif had been barred from boxing with women in training because they considered the Algerian to be far too dangerous for women to face in the ring.
The controversy over Khelif’s real gender continued when, after the Olympics, another report emerged that Khelif was more male than female and had the internal makeup of a man, not a woman. The report added that Khelif has internal testes, a “micropenis” and XY chromosomes.
Khelif’s biological status, reportedly assembled by the Kremlin-Bicêtre hospital in Paris, France, and the Mohamed Lamine Debaghine hospital in Algiers, Algeria, revealed that the IBA may have been correct in its ruling that Khelif is a male and should be banned from women’s boxing.
The report claims that Khelif suffers from a 5-alpha reductase deficiency, a sexual organ disorder that is only found in males.
Despite her initial shock and distress after the Olympics, Carini tried apologizing to Khelif.
“All this controversy makes me sad,” Carini said of the negative attention Khelif was receiving. “I’m sorry for my opponent, too. If the IOC said she can fight, I respect that decision.”
“It wasn’t something I intended to do,” Carini insisted. “Actually, I want to apologize to her and everyone else. I was angry because my Olympics had gone up in smoke.”
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