In a bizzare happening, Italy’s Angela Carini decided to abandon her welterweight round of 16 fight against Algeria’s Imane Khelif in just 46 seconds of the first round.
Imane, the 2022 world championships silver medallist, hit the Italian with a left cross flash on her face, a punch which jerked her head backwards.
It was after this punch Carini raised her right arm signalling she’s abandoning the fight. She appeared angry talking to her coaches at the blue corner.
As the referee held their hands to officially announce the winner, an angry Carini appeared to be complaining to her coaches. She refused to shake hands with Khelif and instead knelt on the canvas mumbling to herself and then walked dejectedly back to her corner.
Khelif, looking cool in her plaited hair, was perplexed as to what led her opponent to abandon the fight.
It will be interesting to know why Carini decided to do so. Maybe it’s as a result of her dad who passed on or she did so in protest following the controversy surrounding the participation of Khelif and Taiwan’s double world bantamweight and featherweight champion Lin Yu-ting. The two boxers were disqualified from last year’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi after failing gender eligibility tests.
Credit: AFBC Communications
