COLORADO SPRINGS — We are just 23 days away from the Tokyo Olympics and USA Boxing held a special send-off for Team USA this morning.
USA boxing is sending off 9 qualified boxers, along with one extra who is going to the training camp with them, and 11 staff members. Fans gathered this morning to cheer on USA Boxing as they start their journey to compete in the Tokyo Olympics. One of the boxers making her Olympic debut is Oshae Jones.
Oshae grew up in Toledo, Ohio and she began boxing at just 10 years old. The 23-year-old has spent her life trying to get to this point. She comes from a family of boxing professionals. Oshae is coached at home by her father, and two of her brothers have become professional boxers. So, it’s no surprise that Oshae wishes her family could cheer for her in Japan. Although, they’ll be watching from home, Oshae says it's her family who has helped her dream big and prepare for this point. She says Team USA and her USA Boxing coaches have helped her fine tune her skills and USA Boxing isn’t taking this opportunity lightly.
“I would say we have so much, you know, fire built up because the Olympics have been postponed so much. There were times they said it wasn’t going to happen, and then they said it was. So it was like, when we get the chance, we’re not going to let it slip out of our fingers,” said Jones.
“Well, not the crowd, we won’t hear them but I know they’ll be watching. But I think the Olympics, since the U.S. has been through so much through these couple months. I just think it will be good to give them hope, like you know, something positive still can go on.”
Oshae will represent USA Boxing in one of two new weight divisions on the women’s side. Having won in 2019, Oshae is the first Pan American Games welterweight gold medalist. She has competed in the 2018 and 2019 world championships. Oshae is the United State’s no. 1 welterweight and she is ranked 7th in the world.
Oshae is the first female boxer from Ohio to compete in the Olympic games for USA Boxing. She says she has learned a lot since her training started here in the Springs many years ago.
