‘I Have Never Been Hit So Hard in My Life’
by Simon Kent
Italian Female Boxer Lasts Just 46 Seconds Against Fighter Who Failed Gender Test
Forty-six seconds. That was the sum total of time a female Italian boxer lasted in the ring at the Paris Olympics before she retired from a bout against against an Algerian fighter caught in an eligibility furore.
Twenty-five-year-old Imane Khalif was cleared to compete at the 2024 Olympics having earlier failed an unspecified testosterone level test.
The contest Thursday between the mismatched pugilists shone fresh light on the controversy about athletes with abnormally high testosterone levels or other male characteristics being allowed to enter women’s sporting categories.
Angela Carini was seen going to her corner twice during the women’s category 66kg clash, once to get her headgear tightened after taking a punch to the face and the other to abandon the bout after 46 seconds.
Speaking after the match, the heartbroken Italian told Italy’s ASNA: “I’m used to suffering. I’ve never taken a punch like that, it’s impossible to continue. I’m nobody to say it’s illegal.
“I got into the ring to fight. But I didn’t feel like it anymore after the first minute. I started to feel a strong pain in my nose. I didn’t give up, but a punch hurt too much and so I said enough. I’m leaving with my head held high.”