Jahmal Harvey is 'very confident and motivated' ahead of his Olympic debut

At this summer's Olympics, Jahmal Harvey is widely considered America's best hope for a boxing medal.

The 21-year-old from Oxon Hill, Maryland, who will compete at featherweight (57 kilograms-125 pounds), welcomes the opportunity to try to become the first American since Andre Ward in 2004 to claim gold while competing. The Paris Games.

“I'm very confident, motivated and training hard,” Harvey told The Ring. “I expect nothing less than gold.

“There's really no pressure, I don't think too much about it. Yes, gold is gold but if I don't get it, there's really no pressure. I am just happy that I am doing something with my life, which makes my family proud. No one can take away all the years I have put in to achieve this goal. At the end of the day, I'm doing this for myself, not for everyone else.”

The American team, assisted by head coach Billy Walsh, brought several former Olympians to Colorado Springs to help prepare the team of eight, four men and four women, for what to expect.

“I've been with Olympians at the Olympic training center,” he said. “We recently had a family event where they brought past Olympians, they brought Olympians from 1996, 2000, 2004 and so on. I got good information from that. I talked to Mikeala Mayer, Richard Torrez, Queen Underwood etc. “

Harvey says those connections have helped him and he has one takeaway from those conversations.

“Distractions were the biggest thing,” he said. “They said focus on fighting, you don't want external distractions like tickets or where your family lives. The Olympics is a great thing but you want to stay focused.”

See you in Paris : A Dream of a Lifetime #pais2024 #teamharvey 🇺🇸🙏🏽🥇 pic.twitter.com/NsSRYcLf9Z

– Jahmal “Hard Rock “Harvey (@HarveyJahmal) November 1, 2023

Harvey, who is 160-9 with 10 national titles, is a regular winner, having taken the top prize in other tournaments while representing his country.

“When I was young I went to Bulgaria and got gold, then I got gold at the Worlds in my second competition,” he said confidently. “That was my level to go out and get the gold.

“That was good, I had a good training camp for that. Going to it I was already in the training camp for the 2020 Olympics, because it's happening in 2021, not 2020. I was in there talking to Keyshawn Davis, Duke Ragan, I was talking to a lot of guys. It was an international training camp, so I was fighting with Australia, Jordan, so I entered the World, I did well with those who had just participated in the Olympics. I already had that kind of motivation at a very young age, I could stick with these guys.

“When I thought about that, I decided to stay [amateur.] I said there's only one thing I have to do to raise it so it can get Olympic gold.”

When Ward won America's last Olympic gold, Harvey was only 2 years old.

“That was a minute ago! It would be so [be nice to match his achievement,]” he said. “I'm trying to bring one back to the US and bring American boxing back to the top and show why we're the best in the world. I have a great team around me, we're all training together, doing the same thing, helping each other to get better. This team is definitely going to shock the world.”

And if he can achieve that goal he can put his name next to famous men like Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard, who got Olympic gold.

“It means a lot to me, my dream was to enter the Olympics, after that I have to get the gold,” he said. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that you took back when you were young. It would make me very happy.

“It would be great to write my name and legends, put me down in the history books for years and years to come.”

Although, while he hopes to one day turn pro, he isn't looking that far ahead.

“I don't know what I will do after the Olympics,” he said. “One day, I'm looking to become a professional.”

Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at [email protected].

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