Female Russian boxer who knocked Imane Khelif down wants rematch

Russian boxer Azalia Amineva has put out a message to Imane Khelif, challenging the Algerian to a rematch a year after the pair faced off at the World Championships in India. During their bout in 2023, Amineva knocked her opponent down, but ultimately lost the match.

Now Amineva is calling for a rematch after seeing Khelif’s fight with Italian Angela Carini at the Paris Olympics, which saw Carini abandon the match after just 46 seconds, in tears and scared for her safety. Amineva has vowed to avenge ‘all the girls you got in the way of,’ in reference to the ongoing row over Khelif’s gender.

Khelif’s participation in the women’s boxing events at the Paris Olympics has seen heavy backlash, as many accuse them of being ‘male.’ Khelif, along with Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, had previously failed a gender eligibility test, reportedly being found to have male XY chromosomes. The International Olympic Committee, however, disagreed with this ruling and allowed the pair to compete alongside women.