Pro boxer and former Olympian calls out Angela Carini's 'publicity stunt' against Imane Khelif

Skye Nicholson has launched a passionate defence of Imane Khelif following her controversial bout against Angela Carini at the 2024 Olympics.

Klelif booked her spot in the next round of the competition after Carini pulled out of their contest just 46 seconds into the match.

Her involvement in Paris has sparked huge debate over whether she should be able to compete at the Games in Paris.

The International Boxing Association (IBA) are set to award the Italian with Olympic champion prize money despite her defeat.

Imane Khelif and Angela Carini during their Olympic bout. Image: Getty

Nicolson, who turned professional with Eddie Hearn's Matchroom following the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, has jumped to the defence of Khelif amid intense scrutiny.

The Australian boxer called out Carini's 'publicity stunt' as she defended the Algerian's participation at this summer's Olympics.

On social media, she said: "I’ve actually fought and sparred both of the girls. They were born female. They were born with an XY chromosome, which is the male chromosome, but they were born with female bodies, they have the physical attributes of a female.

"They have grown up as girls, as females, as women. They have competed as women the whole time. These are not naturally born men who have decided to call themselves women or identify as women to fight women in the Olympics.

"And while it is a bit of a grey area, I think the abuse and the power of the media, and people just jumping on the bandwagon without knowing all the details, is honestly horrible.

"These girls have represented their country on numerous occasions for many, many years now as female fighters, and they do not deserve this mistreatment. I think they have been so unfortunate to even be in the situation that they’re in and to get all this scrutiny as well."

The 28-year-old, who's the WBC women's featherweight world champion, added: "I feel like the thing that happened with the Italian girl was a publicity stunt more than anything.

"I just think people really need to, like, look at the facts and stop jumping on the bandwagon. Be a lion, not a sheep."