Toledo's Oshae Jones ready to chase Olympic dream

May 18—When the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were postponed due to the spread of coronavirus, Oshae Jones lost some of her motivation to practice and compete.

"It was harder to train," Jones, a Toledo native, said in an interview with The Blade. "Everything was 10 times harder; 'why am I doing this right now' when I have an extra year."

Being around family and having her teammates' support drove Jones to continue the preparation she needed to do to stay ready.

After a year of postponement, USA Boxing announced Jones qualified for Tokyo. She will compete in the welterweight division (152 pounds), one of two groups that were added for the 2021 games.

"I know I worked hard for it, but I'm still humble and grateful that I get to represent a lot of women or a lot of African-American women or a lot of women that don't think they're good enough," Jones said. "Or that think that boxing is just a male sport. It's not, and women can do it, too. And we can do it better than them."

Jones was the first woman to win gold in the welterweight class at the 2019 Pan-American Games. En route to her gold medal, she took down Atheyna Bylon of Panama and Maria Moronta of the Dominican Republic before defeating Myriam Da Silva of Canada in the championship round with a unanimous decision.

At the 2019 Elite Women's World Championship, she defeated Ani Hovsepyan of Armenia in a 5-0 decision.

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Jones' accomplishments include being a three-time Elite National Champion, competing in the 2016 Youth Open, and taking part in the 2014 National PAL championships.

Matt Johnson, USA Boxing Performance Director, has watched Jones progress in her career.

"Oshae has really become very adaptable so that she's able to handle all of those types of opponents and turn it so that she's able to execute her game plan, no matter who she's competing against, rather than adapting to their style of boxing," Johnson said. "So she's really just become a much more complete boxer all around."

One of the biggest adjustments boxers have to face once entering the international stage is facing opponents with different styles of boxing. Johnson said Jones has become more adaptable to international style of boxing, something some boxers often struggle with.

"She can adapt to those and make sure that their style isn't dictating the fight, that she's able to do what she sets out to do with the high work rate being in and out, [throwing] punches, and exchanging a lot," Johnson said. "She's really developed into a world-class boxer at all levels."

Jones can't fit her style of boxing into one category. With each fight she brings her determination and hard-working mentality.

"When I have a aggressive fighter, I feel like sometimes you could outbox the aggressive fighter, let them come forward and side step them, linger them in, and then do your combination and angle out," Jones said. "But then again, it's some that just won't stop coming. You have to be aggressive back to show them that you're on that level with them."

Jones won the 2020 Olympic qualifiers before the games were postponed. This year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the International Olympic Committee Boxing Task Force cancelled the qualifications round. It was originally scheduled for May 10 to May 16 in Buenos Aires. Instead of the qualifiers, the selection process were based off of the Boxing Task Force rankings.

For Jones, advancing to the Summer Olympics was a bittersweet moment. It was sweet because her hard work paid off, but it was bitter because, with the qualifiers canceled, she didn't get to fight for it and some of her teammates were eliminated.

She's ranked as the No.1 Americas welterweight fighter and No. 7 welterweight in the world.

"I think this is really her time to shine. I think everything is lined up for [her], that she's ready to take full advantage of the opportunity. So when we get out there, it's just about getting Oshae's best performance every day that she steps through the ring," Johnson said. "And if we can do that, the results are going to take care of themselves and she'll continue to advance. Hopefully at the end of it, she'll be standing at the top of the podium."

First Published May 17, 2021, 5:52pm