Team USA will kick off their hunt for a gold medal at the 2024 Olympics on Saturday with their first bout in the women’s 60-kilogram division, while Cuba’s Arlen Lopez and Julio Cesar La Cruz will begin their quest for a third gold.
Jajaira Gonzalez, a 27-year-old from Glendora, Calif. will be the first American boxer to take the ring in Paris, but will have a tough first round assignment as she faces off with 2016 gold medalist Estelle Mossely of France in the round of 32.
The U.S. team will have a second boxer see action on Sunday, July 28 when Roscoe Hill, 29, of Spring, Tex. sees action against Omid Ahmadisafa, a 31-year-old Iranian kickboxer who is representing the Refugee Olympic Team, in the men’s 51-kilogram category. The U.S. will have one more boxer in action on Monday, July 29, when super heavyweight Joshua Edwards faces Italy’s Diego Lenzi in men’s round-of-16 action, with 57-kilogram boxer Alyssa Mendoza scheduled to face Mijgona Samadova of Tajikistan in round-of-32 competition on Tuesday, July 30.
Two more Americans will see action on Wednesday, July 31 when Omari Jones, 21, of Orlando, Fla. faces Chinese Tapei’s Kan Chia Wei in the 71-kilogram round-of-16, and Jahmal Harvey, 21, of Oxon Hill, Md. faces Luiz Gabriel Oliveira, a 2023 Pan Am Games bronze medalist from Brazil whom he has a 3-2 lifetime record against, in the men’s 57-kilogram round-of-16.
The final Americans scheduled to have their opening bouts will be Jennifer Lozano and Morelle McCane, who both open their campaigns on Thursday, August 1. Lozano, the 50-kilogram boxer from Laredo, Tex. who drew a bye in the first round and will face the winner of Sunday’s round-of-32 bout between Pihla Kaivo Oja of Finland and Margaret Tembo of Zambia, while McCane, 29, of Cleveland will face Uzbekistan’s Navbakhor Khamidova in the round of women’s 66-kilogram round-of-16.
Team USA hasn’t won a boxing gold since 2016, when Claressa Shields won back to back golds, while American men have had a much longer drought, having not won a gold since 2004. At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, the United States earned three silvers and a bronze.
“There are no easy draws at the Olympic Game, as each bout will be against one of the world’s top 20 boxers. Our team is focused on taking it one bout at a time and delivering our best performance each day while here in Paris,” said Matt Johnson, USA Boxing’s High Performance Director.
Lozano tells The Ring that she believes the U.S. team will open a lot of eyes at the Paris Games.
“All I can say is that USA has not only worked hard but sacrificed and has become family,” said Lozano, who earned silver at the 2023 Pan Am Games. “This year will be USA Boxing’s biggest history making team for the most gold medals in boxing. That goes for the men as well. USA men have a great chance of ending that streak.”
Arlen Lopez and Julio Cesar La Cruz will look to join Laszlo Papp, Teofilo Stevenson and Felix Savon in the illustrious group of boxers who have won three Olympic golds.
Lopez, now 31, will see action next Friday, August 2 in the men’s 80-kilogram quarterfinals, when he faces the winner between the Philippines’ Eumir Marcial, a 2020 bronze medalist, and Uzbekistan’s Turabek Khabibullaev, who will meet on Tuesday. Lopez won the middleweight gold in 2016 and moved up in weight for 2020 to capture gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
La Cruz, who won the light heavyweight gold at the Rio Games in 2016 and heavyweight gold at Tokyo 2020, will face another Cuban in the 92-kilogram round-of-16 on Sunday when he faces Loren Alfonso, who is now representing Azerbaijan. The two fought once before in 2019, with La Cruz winning a unanimous decision in the Czech Republic.
Despite lifting their ban on women’s boxing last year, Cuba didn’t qualify a woman for the Olympics. As such, the amateur boxing powerhouse will only have five boxers in Paris, including Erislandy Álvarez (63.5 kg), Alejandro Claro (51 kg) and Saidel Horta (57 kg).
In other action, men’s 57-kilogram boxer Carlo Paalam of the Philippines will begin his quest to improve off of his silver medal finish in Tokyo when he faces Jude Gallagher of Ireland next Wednesday in the round-of-16. Paalam, 26, was forced out of the first world qualifier in March due to a shoulder injury, but came back strong to win his quota bout at the last chance qualifier in June to earn a spot at the Olympics.
Paalam will be joined by his fellow Filipino silver medalist Nesthy Petecio, who will begin her tournament on July 30 in the women’s 57-kilogram round-of-32 against India’s Jaismine Lamboria. The winner of that bout will face France’s Amina Zidani, who won gold at the 2023 European Games.
Hasanboy Dusmatov, the 2016 Olympic gold medalist from Uzbekistan, will return to the Olympics in Paris, facing Juanma Lopez de Jesus of Puerto Rico on July 30 in the men’s 51-kilogram round-of-16. His teammate, super heavyweight Bakhodir Jalolov, will once again turn his attention from his 14-0 (14 knockouts) pro career as he seeks to repeat his gold medal performance from the 2020 Games. The 30-year-old southpaw, who stands 6-foot-7, will face Omar Shiha on Monday, July 29 in round-of-16.
The first gold medal match is scheduled for August 6 in the women’s 60-kilogram event, while the last four finals will be on August 10.
Olympic boxing will stream live in the United States on Peacock, with the full schedule below, courtesy of Peacock.
Saturday, July 27
9:30 a.m. ET: Women’s Bantam (R32), Men’s Light (R32), & More
2:00 p.m. ET: Women’s Light (R32), Men’s Middle (R32), & More
Sunday, July 28
5:00 a.m. ET: Men’s Heavy (R16), Women’s Fly & Welter (R32), & More
9:30 a.m. ET: Men’s Feather (R32), Women’s Welter (R32), & More
2:00 p.m. ET: Men’s Heavy (R16), Women’s Fly & Welter (R32), & More
Monday, July 29
5:00 a.m. ET: Men’s Super Heavy (R16)
9:30 a.m. ET: Men’s & Women’s Light (R16), Men’s Super Heavy (R16) & More
2:00 p.m. ET: Women’s Light (R16), Men’s Super Heavy (R16), & More
Tuesday, July 30
5:00 a.m. ET: Men’s Fly & Middle (R16), Women’s Feather (R32) & More
9:30 a.m. ET: Men’s Fly & Middle (R16), Women’s Bantam (R16) & More
2:00 p.m. ET: Men’s Middle (R16), Women’s Bantam (R16) & More
Wednesday, July 31
5:00 a.m. ET: Women’s Middle (R16), Men’s Feather (R16), & More
9:20 a.m. ET: Women’s Light (QF), Men’s Welter (R16), & More
2:00 p.m. ET: Women’s Light (QF), Men’s Feather (R16), & More
Thursday, August 1
5:00 a.m. ET: Women’s Welter (R16), Men’s Heavy (QF), & More
9:30 a.m. ET: Women’s Bantam (QF), Men’s Light (QF), & More
2:00 p.m. ET: Men’s Heavy (QF), Women’s Bantam (QF), & More
Friday, August 2
9:30 a.m. ET: Men’s Super Heavy (QF), Women’s Feather (R16), & More
2:00 p.m. ET: Men’s Super Heavy (QF), Men’s Fly (QF), & More
Saturday, August 3
9:30 a.m. ET: Men’s Feather (QF), Women’s Light (SF), & More
2:00 p.m. ET: Women’s Light (SF), Men’s Welter (QF), & More
Sunday, August 4
5:00 a.m. ET: Men’s Middle (SF), Women’s Bantam (SF) & More
9:30 a.m. ET: Men’s Heavy (SF), Women’s Bantam (SF), & More
Tuesday, August 6
3:30 p.m. ET: Women’s Light (Final), Men’s Welter (SF), & More
Wednesday, August 7
3:30 p.m. ET: Men’s Middle, Light (Finals), & More
Thursday, August 8
3:30 p.m ET: Men’s Fly, Women’s Bantam (Finals), & More
Friday, August 9
3:30 p.m. ET: Men’s & Women’s Welter, Men’s Heavy, Women’s Fly (Finals)
Saturday, August 10
3:30 p.m. ET: Men’s & Women’s Feather, Women’s Middle, Men’s Super Heavy (Finals)
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