Angela Carini was reduced to tears as she stopped her controversial fight with Imane Khelif at the Paris Olympics.

Italian boxer Carini took a couple of punches from her Algerian rival – who failed a gender eligibility test in 2013 – before choosing to end the bout after just 46 seconds.

Carini made her way to the ring for the fight despite her coach revealing many had asked her not to competeCredit: Getty

She signalled to her corner to stop the preliminary round of 16 fight, and fell to her knees in floods of tears as her Olympic dream was left in tatters.

Carini revealed afterwards that she had decided to pull out having being hit harder than she had ever been hit before.

Her opponent Khelif is one of two fighters, along with Lin Yu‑ting of Taiwan, cleared by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to compete in women’s boxing in Paris.

This is despite International Boxing Association (IBA) president, Umar Kremlev, saying DNA tests had ‘proved they had XY chromosomes and were thus excluded’ from competing at the Women’s World Boxing Championship in India last year.

The IBA, which does not run Olympic boxing, said it had made the decision ‘following a comprehensive review and was intended to uphold the fairness and integrity of the competition’.

In highly-charged scenes at the North Paris Arena in Paris on Thursday, Carini had returned to the centre of the ring as the final decision was read out and her fate was confirmed.

She snubbed a handshake from Khelif, before yelling ‘this is unjust’ in a furious and frustrated outburst.

The 25-year-old was extremely emotional and climbed out of the ring, with her team quickly comforting her and ushering her back to the dressing room.

In her post-fight interview, she said: “It hurt so much. I am heartbroken. I went to the ring to honour my father.

“I was told a lot of times that I was a warrior, but I preferred to stop for my health. I have never felt a punch like this.

Two thunderous right hands saw the Italian helplessly retreat to her cornerCredit: Getty

The fight was just 46 seconds old when it was called offCredit: AFP

Carini screamed and sobbed as she realised her Olympic dream was overCredit: AFP

“After the second blow, and after years of experience in the ring and a lifetime of fighting, I felt extreme pain in my nose.

“I said ‘enough’ because I didn’t want to… I couldn’t carry on in the match. I thought maybe it was better that I brought an end to the match.

“I went to my corner and raised my hand and said I’d had enough because my nose hurt so much.

“I’ve always gone into the ring with honour, I’ve always fought for my country, loyally, but this time I couldn’t as I wasn’t able to fight anymore.”

She later insisted that it was not a protest, but simply putting the decision in the Olympics’ court.

Carini was taken away from the ring and taken for medical assessment, to examine the severity of her injuries which included a damaged nose.

Khelif has since broken her silence since the fight on social media, simply writing: “Elhamdolilah. First Victory.”

Her rival Khelif had been thrown out of last year’s World Championships after failing testosterone tests to classify genders for boxing competition.

But she was this year admitted to the Olympics by the IOC, and cleared to compete in the women’s category.

There had been outrage from some big names in the boxing world including Ebanie Bridges, who had hit out at the decision in a furious rant.

Carini refused to acknowledge Khelif, as her frustrations bared for all to see in the French capitalCredit: Getty

Female heavyweight world champion Claressa Shields and trainer Barry McGuigan had also expressed their opposition to the inclusion of Khelif.

But the governing body released a statement clarifying their position, which read: “All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations in accordance with rules 1.4 and 3.1 of the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit.

“The PBU endeavoured to restrict amendments to minimise the impact on athletes’ preparation and guaranteeing consistency between Olympic Games.”

A joint statement from the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit and the IOC released later on Thursday read: “Every person has the right to practise sport without discrimination.

“All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations set by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU). As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age of the athletes are based on their passport.

“These rules also applied during the qualification period, including the boxing tournaments of the 2023 European Games, Asian Games, Pan American Games and Pacific Games, the ad hoc 2023 African qualifying tournament in Dakar (SEN) and two world qualifying tournaments held in Busto Arsizio (ITA) and Bangkok (THA) in 2024, which involved a total of 1,471 different boxers from 172 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), the Boxing Refugee Team and Individual Neutral Athletes, and featured over 2,000 qualification bouts.

“The PBU used the Tokyo 2020 boxing rules as a baseline to develop its regulations for Paris 2024. This was to minimise the impact on athletes’ preparations and guarantee consistency between Olympic Games. These Tokyo 2020 rules were based on the post-Rio 2016 rules, which were in place before the suspension of the boxing International Federation by the IOC in 2019 and the subsequent withdrawal of its recognition in 2023.

“We have seen in reports misleading information about two female athletes competing at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The two athletes have been competing in international boxing competitions for many years in the women’s category, including the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, International Boxing Association (IBA) World Championships and IBA-sanctioned tournaments.

“These two athletes were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA. Towards the end of the IBA World Championships in 2023, they were suddenly disqualified without any due process.

“According to the IBA minutes available on their website, this decision was initially taken solely by the IBA Secretary General and CEO. The IBA Board only ratified it afterwards and only subsequently requested that a procedure to follow in similar cases in the future be established and reflected in the IBA Regulations. The minutes also say that the IBA should “establish a clear procedure on gender testing.

“The current aggression against these two athletes is based entirely on this arbitrary decision, which was taken without any proper procedure – especially considering that these athletes had been competing in top-level competition for many years.

“Such an approach is contrary to good governance.

“Eligibility rules should not be changed during ongoing competition, and any rule change must follow appropriate processes and should be based on scientific evidence.

“The IOC is committed to protecting the human rights of all athletes participating in the Olympic Games as per the Olympic Charter, the IOC Code of Ethics and the IOC Strategic Framework on Human Rights. The IOC is saddened by the abuse that the two athletes are currently receiving.

“The IBA’s recognition was withdrawn by the IOC in 2023 following its suspension in 2019. The withdrawal of recognition was confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). See the IOC’s statement following the ruling.

“The IOC has made it clear that it needs National Boxing Federations to reach a consensus around a new International Federation in order for boxing to be included on the sports programme of the Olympic Games LA28.”

Khelif will progress to the next round where she will wait to discover who she will face in the quarter-final.

For the Italian, it was Olympic heartache that she felt was beyond her control, with her native officials already having complained about the bout beforehand.

The rules have been brought into sharp focus, and there will no doubt be even more intense scrutiny on the situation following the scenes in the squared circle.

In its 130-year history the IOC has never banned an international governing body from running a sport but that all changed in June 2023 when the IBA was stripped of its status as the sport’s world governing body, which took its appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The IOC’s executive board had recommended the move after the IBA failed to meet set reforms following its 2019 suspension over governance issues and alleged corruption.

CAS said the IBA had not made enough change in financial transparency, integrity of officials and its culture.

Boxing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics was subsequently organised by the IOC but it has no plans to oversee boxing at the Los Angeles Games in 2028.

The sport is not currently on the programme for LA, but World Boxing, which was only founded in 2023 to try and replace the IBA, wants to be recognised boxing can take place in four years.

Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting is the other fighter in Paris who also had questions raised about her eligibility for the Games.

She faces Sitora Turdibekova in the women’s 57kg category on Friday.