Exclusive: “His Faith Is Very Strong”: Asst. Coach Opens Up on Omari Jones’ Mindset Before Semi-Finals, Confident Team USA Is “Going to Have a Gold Medal”, and More

Orlando, Florida native Omari Jones, is the last hope for Team USA to bring a gold medal in boxing. Seven of the eight fighters on the team have already been eliminated, leaving Jones as the last survivor. Team USA’s assistant coach Christine Lopez sat down for an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports, where she delved deeper into why Jones is the ideal boxer to bring gold to the country.

Jones and Jahmal Harvey were the only boxers from Team USA who qualified for the quarterfinals. While ‘Banger’ came out on the top, Harvey’s Olympic journey came to an end as he lost in the quarterfinals. While talking about these two wonder kids, Lopez stated, “As far as Omari Jones and Jahmal Harvey, they competed yesterday and Jahmal did not get his arm raised, Omari did. I think that Omari needs to stick to the game plan coming up. He has a very good mindset and he’s very patient, he knows what he has to do.”

Andre Ward won a gold medal in boxing in 2004, and Americans have been waiting for 20 years to see another boxer do it again. With Jones’ name in the forefront, Lopez advised that Jones should keep going on with the same mindset. She also mentioned how the boxer has a good relationship with Christ and said, “His faith is very strong, he’s not worrying about the naysayers. There have been a lot of comments, you know that we haven’t won a gold in a long time. 20 years, Andre  Ward was the last one and he doesn’t let that get to him.” 

He is slated to go up against Uzbekistan’s Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev on August 7th at the Rolland Garros Stadium. Ahead of the semifinal, Lopez just had good words for her boxer and told EssentiallySports FanCast, “It’s his time, it’s a new day, things have changed and he’s gonna do what he has to do to win. And I do believe that we have a gold medalist on our hands.” 

Furthermore, it’s a strange feeling to see all of your comrades getting eliminated as you continue to advance one step at a time. It raises the question of what effect does it have on Omari? But Team USA Boxing’s asst. coach feels that her squad knows how to handle it. See what she said about the team and Jones. 

The ultimate game plan 

 Popularly known as ‘Banger’ in the boxing community, Jones knows how to fight his inner demons and focus with a tunnel vision in order to succeed. During the Exclusive talk with EssentiallySports, Lopez explained that it is indeed difficult to see stablemates lose. But what matters is how you have an equation with your team. She revealed, “The team is very close, they are very bonded, they support each other win, lose, draw. And it’s a beautiful thing to see. You know boxing is definitely a family away from family.”

She went on to explain that Jones would use this as fuel to bring a gold medal to his country. “And regardless of what’s going on around him, he’s going to stick to the game plan. Do I feel that he is under pressure? I don’t feel that he is under pressure because he doesn’t allow himself to be under pressure,” Lopez explained. 

Well, during our conversation with Christine Lopez, she seemed pretty confident about Jones’ ability to bring home the gold medal. Indeed, she further reinforced this by saying, “We are going to have a gold medal.” What do you think about it? Will Team USA Boxing finally break the curse of 20 years and bring home a gold medal? Share your thoughts about it in the comments below.