Darrelle Valsaint is hoping to make a fight with 2024 U.S. Olympic bronze medalist Omari Jones one day.

Valsaint is set to return on May 10 at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Florida. He doesn’t have an official opponent set at this time.

Valsaint, 12-0 (10 KOs), knows Jones well. They are both from Orlando, Florida, and at one point they trained in the same gym. That is no longer the case as Valsaint, 22, now trains with Marc Farrait and is part of a group of emerging contenders being brought on by ProBox TV, along with light heavyweight Najee Lopez and junior lightweight Dominic Valle. Valsaint explained he felt Jones, 1-0 (1 KO), had taken a subliminal shot at him in a recent interview. 

“It'll be a great fight for boxing and for the community to come from the same area,” Valsaint, a 2020 Olympian who represented Haiti, told BoxingScene. “I think it's a great fight to be made. I know he's only 1-0, but he fought somebody with 19 fighters and he said something slick about me. I feel like he said something slick about the Olympics and him medaling.

“I don't take stuff like that lightly,” Valsaint added. “I would love to make this happen.”

Jones, also 22, stopped Alessio Mastronunzio in two rounds. That bout was his professional debut. Valsaint explained the perceived disrespect. 

“I just heard about an interview he did saying that he is the real deal and other guys probably went to the Olympics, but they didn’t medal or something like that,” Valsaint said. “You know, I was 19 when I went to the Olympics. He was 22. That isn’t an excuse, but I would love to get in there with him.”

Valsaint knows Jones very well. They even sparred recently. Valsaint has made it clear this is a fight he wants to happen soon.

“We grew up together,” Valsaint said. “We grew up sparring in the gym as kids. We sparred recently. We have sparred twice this year. It was good work. The kid runs a lot.”

Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.