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, American men’s boxing 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, 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,” Jones said. “… But 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.”

The Paris Games also marked the second consecutive Olympics in which the International Olympic Committee oversaw the boxing competition. Before that, Olympic boxing was governed by the International Boxing Association. But in 2023, the IOC officially expelled the IBA over longstanding concerns surrounding governance, financial transparency, and the credibility of refereeing and judging.

Beyond the judging controversy, Jones believes the U.S. Olympic boxing program also needs changes within its coaching system if Team USA hopes to reclaim its dominance on the Olympic stage.

“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.”

USA’s boxing coaching team consists of Billy Walsh, Timothy Nolan, Edward Fonteneaux and Nikki Burleson. Whether Team USA heeds Jones’ perspective is yet to be seen. The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics are a couple of years away. So, it would be interesting to see whether the men’s boxing team can break the curse and bring in the gold. 

As for Jones, since his bronze medal, he has turned professional and has managed to rack up a pro record of 7-0. And in the meantime, a new governing body has been chosen to oversee boxing in the Olympics. 

World Boxing is put in charge of boxing in the Olympics

After the 2024 Olympics, there were doubts about whether boxing would remain part of the Games. 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 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. 

That being said, Omari Jones strongly believes the odds are stacked against America in Olympic men’s boxing. 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 since 2004.