Oshae Jones Claims Bronze At Welterweight; Hong, Surmeneli To Vie For Gold
Aug 4, 2021 • 2:18 AM ET
Oshae Jones carried the U.S. women's boxing team as far as she could.
The 23-year-old welterweight from Toledo, Ohio exits Tokyo with a Bronze medal in tow after coming up short versus China's Gu Hong. Jones won 29-28 on the scorecard of Morocco's Bachir Abbar, overruled by scores of 30-27, 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 for Hong in their welterweight semifinal bout Wednesday afternoon at Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo.
Jones is the second American female to win a Bronze medal, with Marlen Esparza doing the same in 2012 London at flyweight. The goal for Jones was to follow the lead of Claressa Shields, the only American boxer ever to win back-to-back Gold medals (2012, 2016) and for now the only female boxer to advance beyond the semifinals.
Jones entered Tokyo as the number-three seed, advancing to the semifinals following wins over Brianda Cruz (Mexico) in the Round of 16 and Maria Moronta (Dominican Republic) in the quarterfinals. The win over Moronta left Jones as the lone American woman to advance to the medal round.
Hong will face Turkey's Busenaz Surmeneli in the Gold medal bout on August 7. Surmeneli is the second member of the 2020 Turkey boxing team to advance to Gold following a dominant win over India's Lovlina Borgohain.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home.
