U.S. welterweight Oshae Jones will have to settle for a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
The Toledo, Ohio, fighter, seeded No. 3, was outboxed and lost a 4-1 split decision to No. 2-seeded Gu Hong of China in the semifinals early Wednesday ET time, thus ending Jones’ quest to win a gold medal.
Gu, the taller and more experienced fighter, controlled the fight from the outside, scoring with her long jab and countering effectively. Jones was the aggressor throughout but couldn’t get inside enough to rack up points.
The Chinese fighter won all three rounds in progressively more dominating fashion, 3-2 in Round 1, 4-1 in Round 1 and 5-0 in Round 3. Gu won by scores of 30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 29-28 and 28-29.
She will face top-seeded Busenaz Surmeneli for the gold medal early Saturday ET. Surmeneli defeated Lovlina Borgohain of India 5-0 in her semifinal match.
Gu, 32, is a two-time silver medalist in the World Championships.
Jones, who finished 2-1 in the tournament, was the only U.S. woman to earn a medal.
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