Tag: 2024 Olympic Games

Olympics: Claressa Shields sends apology to Imane Khelif “I wish I would’ve did my research”

Imane Khelif Claressa ShieldsThe Paris 2024 Olympic Games have been mired by the Imane Khelif story who has been the target of…

Imane Khelif Claressa Shields

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games have been mired by the Imane Khelif story who has been the target of continuous attacks online. Claressa Shields, former Olympian and current boxing world champion, was quick to judge but has since changed her tone since finding out more.

Imane Khelif

Imane Khelif was suspended last year by the International Boxing Association (IBA) due to being born with XY chromosomes. This decision was criticized by the IOC as not having proper procedure. Due to this decision, the Olympic boxer Khelif has been the target of much hatred online. However, Khelif is a woman, not trans, was born a woman, and has always identified as a woman. It is illegal in Algeria, her home, to transition.

UFC fighters, boxers, online personalities, and more, began attacking Imane Khelif online due to this story which was caused by the IBA. Karim Zidan explains, “It is also worth noting that the IBA has been banned from regulating Olympic boxing because of years of governance problems, a lack of financial transparency and many perceived instances of corruption in judging and refereeing.”

The IOC adds, “The current aggression against these two athletes is based entirely on this arbitrary decision, which was taken without any proper procedure – especially considering that these athletes had been competing in top-level competition for many years.”

Claressa Shields Apologizes

Claressa Shields is one of the greatest female boxers in history. She earned two gold medals in the Olympic games while representing the USA. Since turning pro, she has earned WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO, WBF, and The Ring world titles across multiple weight divisions. Additionally, Shields competes in MMA with the PFL. The GWOAT, like so many online, were quick to jump and attack. But, since learning more, she has now apologized.

“You can’t look at a woman and say ‘Oh, she doesn’t have a high level of testosterone,’” Shields explained while speaking to TMZ, “Because it can come in all different forms. Your muscles, your face, just inside of you and you look like a petite, beautiful woman, but you have a high level of testosterone…I feel bad now because I did an interview with Fox News earlier where I literally called these two women, transgenders, which that’s what I was told…”

“I wish I would’ve did my research before,” she continued, “Because now I couldn’t imagine being at the Olympics, winning these fights, and now I’m seeing all these articles and I’m trending because a two-time Olympic champ just called me a transgender. I just feel really bad about that, and I want to clear it up on my end that I have found out that these two women, were born women, and I don’t know what this testosterone stuff is about.” [H/t BJPenn]

Imane Khelif is actively competing in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games as a boxer. Overall, she has an amateur record of 37-9-0.

Ana and Loopy Godinez: The Power Sisters of the Olympics and UFC

Ana Godinez and Loopy GodinezAna and Loopy Godinez are set to have quite a week in combat sports. Ana Godinez is set to…

Ana Godinez and Loopy Godinez

Ana and Loopy Godinez are set to have quite a week in combat sports. Ana Godinez is set to wrestle in the Olympics while Loopy is booked against Mackenzie Dern in the UFC. One will be going for gold, while the other is rallying for a spot in the top rankings.

Ana and Loopy Godinez: The Power Sisters

The Godinez family moved from Mexico to Canada, running from the cartel, when they were younger and the sisters took up combat sports there. It started with rugby and judo and would eventually lead to wrestling.

Ana Godinez is one of the top female freestyle wrestlers in Canada. She has won two gold medals in the Pan Am Games and had other success elsewhere. At the age of 24, she will be representing Canada in the 62 kg freestyle wrestling category at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Eventually, she would like to compete in MMA.

Loopy Godinez began her martial arts journey with Judo and would eventually pick up Jiu Jitsu as well. Since making her professional debut in 2016, the Mexican-Canadian has put together a record of 12-4. Along the way, Loopy Godinez has defeated notable fighters such as Tabatha Ricci, Emily Ducote, and Cynthia Calvillo, among others. This weekend, live from Abu Dhabi, part of UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov, Loopy Godinez will face fellow top-ten-ranked opponent Mackenzie Dern.

Ana and Loopy Godinez 2

Their third sister Karla Godinez is also an impressive freestyle wrestler. She has medaled in the Pan Am games and nearly qualified for the 2024 Olympics hosted in Paris, France.

In an interview with MMA Fighting, Loopy Godinez said:

“I think she’s really focusing on training, focusing on herself. Once I’m fighting and she’s competing, of course it’s nerve-racking and you feel nervous. You just try to focus on yourself, and once it’s time to get nervous, I’ll get nervous. But for now, I’m just really happy for her. She’s worked so hard … [My sisters are] way better wrestlers than I am. Now they can kick my ass. I’m so happy for them. You don’t see a full family of athletes and doing so good. I’m really proud of my family.”

On competing in the Olympics, representing Canada, Ana Godinez said:

“I was wrestling internationally and I [realized] I’ve only been wrestling for like five years at that point. I’m wrestling internationally and I never would have dreamed of this. When I first started wrestling, I didn’t believe I could win provincials (high school championships in Canada). It wasn’t an achievable goal for me, but I feel like I just tried to catch up. I played the catch-up game and I worked really, really hard with Karla and I was just super obsessed. I feel like I have an addictive personality, so I was super obsessed, I would watch video all the time, I would be in the gym and be on the mats for way too long. That caught me up.”

Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao looking to bring gold home to the Philippines at 2024 Olympic Games

PacquiaoLegendary boxer Manny Pacquiao isn’t quite done yet. Already etching his name into the history books as an eight-weight world champion, Manny Pacquiao now has his sights set on closing out his career with an Olympic gold medal. According to Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino, Pacquiao hopes to compete in the 2024 Olympic Games […]

Pacquiao

Legendary boxer Manny Pacquiao isn’t quite done yet.

Already etching his name into the history books as an eight-weight world champion, Manny Pacquiao now has his sights set on closing out his career with an Olympic gold medal. According to Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino, Pacquiao hopes to compete in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris next year.

“Senator Pacquiao’s camp reached out saying our Filipino ring idol wants to fight in Paris,” Tolentino said in a statement.

The biggest obstacle Manny Pacquiao faces in qualifying for the games is the fact that by the time athletes head to Paris in 2024, ‘PacMan’ will be 45 years old, five years over the maximum allowable age limit. However, it has been reported that the local Olympic body is now discussing with the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines and the International Olympic Committee how Pacquiao might earn a spot at the games.

The next opportunity to quality for Paris 2024 will begin on September 23 when the Asia Games kick off in the People’s Republic of China. Pacquiao is unlikely to appear at the event given the limited amount of time between then and now, but there will also be two qualification events held during the second quarter of 2024 that could lead Pacquaio toward a birth in the Olympic Games.

Previously, Olympic-level boxing was exclusive to amateur pugilists, but that rule changed in 2016, paving the way for professional boxers to finally compete on the globe’s biggest stage.

Manny Pacquiao’s Accomplishments Speak for Themselves

With a career spanning more than a quarter century, Manny Pacquiao amassed an impressive 62-8 record and is considered by many to be the greatest boxer in the history of the sport. Aside from capturing world championships in eight different weight classes, ‘PacMan’ is the first fighter to capture the lineal championship in five separate divisions. He also holds the distinction of being the oldest fighter to win a welterweight world title.

‘PacMan last competed in 2021, suffering a unanimous decision loss to Yordenis Ugás in Las Vegas.

Before making a push for the 2024 Olympics, Manny Pacquaio will strap on the eight-ounce gloves for an exhibition bout with Muay Thai icon Buakaw Banchamek. Announced in July, the pair will compete under international boxing rules in Bangkok, Thailand this January.