Olympic boxer Angela Carini breaks silence on abandoning fight vs Imane Khelif in ‘highly emotional’ interview

Italy’s Carini pulled out of her bout with Khelif after 46 seconds, amid an ongoing row over the Algerian’s eligibility for the Games.

Italian boxer Angela Carini has explained why she withdrew from her fight with Algeria’s Imane Khelif at the Olympic Games after just 46 seconds.

Carini pulled out of her welterweight bout with Khelif, amid an ongoing row over the Algerian’s eligibility for the Games.

Khelif was declared the winner when Carini withdrew after being hit with two punches from her opponent.

The Telegraph report that the Italian sustained a suspected broken nose in the opening exchanges, leading to her decision to pull out of the fight.

Khelif’s participation at the Games is controversial, as the Algerian was disqualified from last year’s World Championships for failing gender eligibility tests.

She was disqualified hours before her gold medal bout at the Championships in New Delhi after she failed to meet the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) eligibility criteria, with the BBC reporting that she failed a testosterone level test.

Reuters report that at the time IBA president Umar Kremlev told Russian news agency TASS that Khelif and Taiwan’s double world champion Lin Yu-ting, who was also disqualified, had “XY chromosomes”.

However, the Russian-led IBA has long faced questions about its governance and in June of last year was stripped of its status as the sport’s world governing body by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

As a result, the boxing competition at the 2024 Olympics is being organised by another body, the Paris Boxing Unit (PBU), which approved both Khelif and Lin to take part in the Games.

Speaking immediately after Thursday’s fight, Carini explained why she pulled had out of the contest.

“I have always honoured my country with loyalty,” she said in a post-fight interview described as “highly emotional” by The Telegraph’s Oliver Brown.

“This time I didn’t succeed because I couldn’t fight anymore.

Carini withdrew from her fight with Khelif (Image: Getty)

“I put an end to the match because after the second blow, after years of experience in the ring and a life of fighting, I felt a strong pain in my nose.

“I said ‘that’s enough’ because… I could not bring the match to an end. So I thought, maybe it’s better to put an end to the match.”

The Daily Mail’s Mike Keegan said Carini had told reporters that she had “never felt punches” like Khelif’s in a fight before.

“Carini fighting back tears afterwards. Giving lengthy responses to journalists. Said strength of punches was the reason she pulled out,” Keegan posted on X.

“Added wasn’t for her to decide who competes. She wanted to honour the competition but stopped for her health. Said she’d never felt punches like it. Khelif walked through without answering questions.”

Khelif progresses to the quarter-finals of the women’s welterweight competition, with her next fight scheduled for Saturday against an opponent who is yet to be confirmed.