Today, on August 1, Carini faced off against the Algerian boxer, but ended the fight just 46 seconds into the match.
The match was scheduled to last four rounds, but Carini felt she couldn’t continue.
The 25-year-old welterweight’s headgear became dislodged twice within the brief time she was in the ring against Khelif.
Reflecting on her surprising decision to end the fight so abruptly, Carini has now shared her thoughts.
Speaking to the press after the fight, Carini explained, “I couldn’t continue this time; I just didn’t have any fight left in me.”
“I ended the match because, after the second blow, I felt a strong pain in my nose. With years of experience in the ring and a life of fighting, I knew something was wrong.”
“I said ‘that’s enough’ because I knew I couldn’t finish the match. So I thought it might be better to stop it myself.”
It’s believed that Carini may have sustained a broken nose during the fight, but this has yet to be confirmed.
There was already controversy surrounding the boxing match between Carini and Khelif due to Khelif’s disqualification from last year’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi.
She failed an unspecified gender eligibility test due to what the International Boxing Association cited as elevated levels of testosterone.
Khelif failed because the IBA’s eligibility rules prevent athletes with XY chromosomes from competing in women’s events, according to Reuters.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has come under scrutiny for allowing Khelif to participate in the Games despite her previous failure to pass the required health tests.
Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting has also been a subject of discussion. Similar to Khelif, Lin was disqualified from last year’s World Championships for not meeting gender eligibility criteria.
Caitlin Parker, captain of the Australian boxing team for Paris 2024, has labeled the participation of athletes like Khelif and Yu-ting as ‘dangerous.’
“I don’t agree with it,” she said, according to The Telegraph. “I really hope the organizations get their act together.”
Despite the backlash, Mark Adams, the IOC spokesperson, believes the committee made the right decision.
“These boxers are entirely eligible—they are women according to their passports,” he said.
“It’s not helpful to start stigmatizing people like this. We all have a responsibility not to turn it into some kind of witch hunt,” he added.
