The last time Team USA won Olympic gold in men’s boxing was in 2004, when Andre Ward captured the top spot at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Since then, the US men’s boxing team has endured a lengthy gold-medal drought on the Olympic stage. But why has Team USA struggled for so long despite consistently dominating professional boxing?

Omari Jones believes he may have an answer. During a recent interview with Ariel Helwani, the 2024 Paris Olympic bronze medalist shared his theory on what has held back American men’s boxing in the Olympics.

“I don’t like to make any excuses for myself or anyone,” Jones said. “But I feel like if it’s a close fight against the U.S. with other countries, they tend to lean more [toward] the other countries for some reason.” 

While there’s no evidence of apparent bias in the 2024 Olympics, Jones’ claims are not entirely without merit. The infamous judging controversy from the 1988 Seoul Olympics still remains a sore memory. Despite Roy Jones Jr dominating the entire tournament and the gold medal fight, judges awarded the win to his South Korean opponent, Park Si-Hun, by a 3-2 split decision.

Though things have changed since then, up until the 2020 Olympics, allegations of corruption in the games, especially boxing, were abundant. As a result, under pressure from the IOC, the IBA, which oversaw Olympic boxing for years, was forced to commission a report in 2021. Based on the findings, the IOC expelled the IBA from the Olympics in June 2023.

While the efforts to clean up Olympic boxing continue, Omari Jones’ concerns about Team USA’s men’s boxing program extend beyond the judging and governance issues. In the same interview, the 7-0 boxer also questioned the effectiveness of the coaching program for the Olympics.

“Speaking on just the Olympic cycle and why we haven’t won any gold medals, I just feel like maybe our system kind of changed a little bit,” he added. “And not to bash Team USA because I’m Team USA for life. I just feel like maybe a little switch-up in the [coaching] system would be best. If we implement some more coaching into the system, and a different coach, and everybody needs different looks.

“But definitely, I’ll say if we add a little bit different coaching right now, and right now we’re dealing with a young team. So a little bit more experience is more of the issue.”

Omari Jones’ criticism of the current coaching setup in Team USA mainly centers on the idea that only a small group of coaches is tasked with preparing the entire team, despite the vast differences in weight classes, fighting styles, mentalities, and overall approaches among boxers. Jones believes Team USA would benefit from a more diverse coaching staff, with specialized trainers working with different fighters to improve the team’s chances of Olympic success.

While a more diverse coaching setup would definitely help boxers, it remains to be seen if the existing system in the US Olympic team would see any sizeable overhaul in the coming days, the way the IOC has done with Olympic boxing ahead of the 2028 LA Games.

World Boxing put in charge of boxing in the Olympics

After the 2024 Olympics, there were doubts about whether boxing would even remain part of the Games as a result of the fallout with the IBA. Even though the IOC had stepped in to oversee boxing in 2020 and 2024, it made it clear that this was not a permanent solution, casting doubt on the fate of the sport at the 2028 LA Olympics.

But thankfully, in February 2026, the IOC officially granted provisional recognition to World Boxing, choosing it to oversee the sport in the Olympics. Later that year, in November, legendary boxer Gennady Golovkin was elected as the President of World Boxing at the organization’s annual Congress in Rome.

He ran as the sole approved candidate and was confirmed by acclamation. And according to recent reports, the IOC has now also approved the Qualification System developed by World Boxing for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. 

While Omari Jones strongly believes the odds are stacked against Americans, whether that perception stems from an actual bias within the Olympics or from his own experience remains open to interpretation. Still, the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics could present the perfect opportunity for Team USA to capture its first men’s boxing gold medal in decades.