When Imane Khelif last stood in the boxing ring, at the biggest stage of all, it was an experience that she would like to forget. Not that she did well enough to land effective shots, but because of what happened 46 seconds into the fight. Her opponent, Angela Carini, was on her knees, sobbing, after she had called it quits. Soon, a controversy interrupted, and Khelif found her images plastered on the internet for all the wrong reasons. But the Algerian boxer pushes all the noise to the background, and moves on to her next fight, and now fights Anna Luca Hamori next.

The two will exchange punches on August 3 in a quarterfinal contest, with thousands of eyes closely following the action and the result, which could also potentially produce the Paris Olympics’ champion. The eyes will also be on Hamori, who is making her first appearance at the Olympics.

Meet Anna Luca Hamori, who faces Imane Khelif next

When Hamori first picked up boxing gloves at 10, she didn’t know she would become the first Hungarian Olympic boxer. The 23-year-old boxer was trying to emulate her older brother, who is also a boxer. And it seems it all worked out because, before touching down in Paris, she boasted an impressive resume. Her list of accolades includes bagging the national champion crown 11 times and going all the way to the finals at the European U-22 Championships. While the Koszeg native failed to carry on the momentum to the 2023 World Championship and crashed out in the early rounds, she found her mojo back and is on a 6-fight win streak.

Currently, the Hungarian boxer stands at 18-13, and will look to improve her record and finally bag an international medal. The signs are encouraging too, as she handed Marissa Williamson Pohlman a comprehensive defeat and is now gearing up to face Khelif. Despite the recent controversy surrounding the latter, Hamori is confident of a favorable result.

Anna Luca Hamori makes bold comments ahead of her next fight

In a conversation with the reporters, Hamori admitted that the recent incident involving Khelif didn’t deter her focus or confidence. She declared, “I’m not scared. I don’t care about the press story and social media. If she or he is a man, it will be a bigger victory for me if I win. I don’t want to care about the comments or the story or the news.”

The welterweight boxer added, “I just want to stay focused on myself. I did it before my last two fights, so I think this is the key, and we will see.” She also didn’t shy away from expressing her disagreement with Carini’s decision to quit the fight. Hamori continued, “It was her choice. We don’t know what was the reason. It’s her life.” The boxing community will eagerly await the fight’s action to commence, and more so on Khelif, who was disqualified from the 2023 World Championships. How did that happen? How does the Tiaret native continue to divide the boxing world?

What is the controversy revolving around Imane Khelif?

Khelif’s history with IBA and her failure in their unspecified gender eligibility test last year is making the rounds online. What’s more? She won the IBA’s 2022 World Championships silver medal, but the sanctioning body didn’t allow her to participate in the finals, citing the elevated levels of testosterone. However, the IOC has banned the IBA, which handles boxing sports in the Olympics before 2024, and allowed Khelif to compete in the 2024 Olympics, keeping the same rules this time as well. So, it’s a difference between two different bodies and their interpretations.

In addition, an IOC spokesperson has pointed out, “Everyone competing in the women’s category is complying with the competition eligibility rules. They are women in their passports, and it’s stated that this is the case. That they are female.” Interestingly, the 37-9 record holder had participated previously in the Tokyo Olympics without a fuss. Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting also finds herself embroiled in a similar controversy. Undoubtedly, it’s a heated topic right now, but Khelif will attract more scrutiny the further she progresses in the tournament.

What do you make of this coming fight between Anna Luca Hamori and Imane Khelif? Who do you think will leave the ring as the winner and inch closer to gold? Let us know in the comments below.