Tony Bellew has defended Olympic champion Imane Khelif following the controversy that surrounded her at the Paris Games.
The Algerian’s participation in the women’s Olympic boxing event was a source of discussion throughout the Games, particularly after Italian fighter Angela Carini forfeited their bout after 46 seconds.
Khelif – along with Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan – had been disqualified from the 2023 World Championship by the IBA after reportedly failing a gender eligibility test.
However, Khelif would beat four opponents on her way to clinching gold in the women’s 66kg event.
Bellew, speaking to Instant Casino, said: ‘Well, straightaway, if you’re born a woman, you’ll want to fight a woman, that’s very, very fair.
Tony Bellew has defended gender row boxer Imane Khelif after the controversy surrounding her participation at the Paris Olympics
Khelif won gold after finding herself embroiled in the fierce dispute this summer after being cleared to fight against women at the Games
Bellew admitted he had sympathy for Khelif who he said there was an ‘agenda’ against
‘I don’t care what your Testosterone levels are as long as she’s proven she’s a clean athlete, which she’s proven and she’s born a woman.
The former WBC cruiserweight champion, went on to add that there was an ‘agenda’ against the 25-year-old.
‘Because there are so many conflicts, you can never go on social media to find the truth, that’s the bottom line,’ he added.
‘If you go on social media to find the truth, you’re going to find someone else’s spin, someone else’s agenda, and someone else’s narrative.
‘At first I was told it’s a man fighting women and then when I thought, well that can’t be possibly right, that was sure it wouldn’t be allowed and then I seen the young girl on the news and she was in tears and I’m told by all accounts, by taking her opinion into account, she’s born a woman and she is a woman, but she has male hormones as well.
‘The agenda is that she’s a female and she has female parts. So I don’t get that, that’s not her fault.’
While her participation in the competition – defended strongly by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) – was debated throughout the Games, it came after she had been disqualified from a previous competition, which sparked controversy.
Yet while the IBA ruled her and Lin out of the World Championship, the IOC took a differing opinion on the matter.
Khelif (left) was previously disqualified from the 2023 World Championship after reportedly failing a gender eligibility test.
Former president of the United States, Donald Trump, was among those who criticised Khelif’s participation at the Paris Olympics
‘This is a question of justice: women must be allowed to take part in women’s competitions. And the two are women,’ president Thomas Bach stated.
Khelif even defended her own participation, saying: ‘I am fully qualified to take part in this competition. I am a woman like any other woman.
‘I was born a woman. I have lived as a woman. I competed as a woman – there is no doubt about that.’
However, she still came in for criticism from a number of figures, including X and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who have both been named by the 25-year-old in a lawsuit.
The fighter was also referred to as a ‘man’ by former US president Donald Trump, and Khelif admitted that she had been ‘affected’ by the ‘noise’.
Bellew though believes it was ‘very fair’ for Khelif to go in the women’s boxing this summer
Khelif is not transgender and was born female but it has been claimed she has male XY chromosomes after taking a test last year under the IBA, who have since largely refused to answer questions about how the process works.
‘Immediately after there was a lot of noise from politicians, athletes, stars, artists — Elon Musk and Donald Trump and that hurt me a lot, I cannot describe how scared I was,’ the 25-year-old Khelif said.
‘This affected me. I’m not lying to you, it affected me a lot. It hurt a lot. I can’t describe the fear I had but thank God I was able to overcome it. Thank god, all the people of Algeria and the Arab world knew Imane Khelif with her femininity, her courage, her will.’
