Ahead of their boxing semi-final battle at the Paris Olympics, Janjaem Suwannapheng declares she is “not afraid” of Imane Khelif and maintains that they are “evenly matched.”
The Thai fighter moved over Turkey’s Busenaz Surmeneli in her 66 kg quarterfinal round to face Algeria’s Khelif, with their fight scheduled for Tuesday night.
Khelif’s involvement in the Games has come under heavy criticism in certain areas following her disqualification from the Women’s World Championships of the previous year due to her violation of the gender eligibility requirements set out by the International Boxing Association (IBA).
However, Khelif, who defeated Anna Luca Hamori of Hungary in her quarterfinal match, has always participated in the women’s category and has identified as a woman since birth.
The IBA have not divulged details behind Khelif’s disqualification at the World Championships, though have repeatedly questioned the IOC’s decision to allow the Algerian – and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting – to compete the French capital this summer.
A distraught Angela Carini abandoned her fight with Khelif after just 46 seconds earlier in the competition, with the Italian claiming she had been ‘hit so hard she couldn’t breathe’ in the wake of her defeat.
However, Suwannapheng fancies her chances against Khelif, despite coming out second best in their previous meeting in India last year.
‘I’ve improved since then and I’ll fight with all I’ve got,’ Suwannapheng told Thai newspaper Khaosod.
‘I’ve looked into it too, about her hormones, and I know she’s lost to female boxers before, but that was a long time ago.
‘I’m not sure if she’s got stronger or if her male hormones have increased.’
Suwannapheng added: ‘But if we meet again, I’m not afraid because we’re evenly matched.
‘I’ve prepared my body well too, trained a lot. I just think, no matter how strong or tough, we’re both human, we both have two fists.
‘Having come this far, I want to go all the way to the gold medal.’
A defiant Khelif declared, ‘I am a woman’, after beating Hamori in her previous bout, with the fighter’s father coming forward to defend his daughter’s participation at the Games.
‘My child is a girl. She was raised as a girl,’ Omar Khelif told French broadcaster BFM TV.
‘She is a strong girl. I raised her to work and be brave.’