Olympic female boxers are being attacked. Let's just slow down and look at the facts

PARIS – Let’s make one thing very clear off the top. There isn’t a sane human being on Planet Earth who believes that a man should be boxing women in the Olympics.

Not a single one.

That said, let’s also say something equally as important: Slow down.

Of course, it’s already too late to contain the mania that is exploding around the Internet right now after Algerian boxer Imane Khelif’s gender was questioned Thursday following a welterweight match that ended after 46 seconds when Italy’s Angela Carini took one punch and called it quits.

The video of the punch is out, and it’s vicious. The International Boxing Association (IBA) claims that Khelif and Lin Yu-Ting of Taiwan failed “gender eligibility tests” at the 2023 world championships. The IOC says they’re eligible to compete. The Italian coach serves up suspicions and hearsay. There’s no transparency around any of the actual facts.