Earlier than Omari Jones earned a bronze medal within the welterweight division for Workforce USA on the Olympics, he was grinding on the USA Boxing nationwide circuit, usually overcoming vital obstacles to compete.
One such second got here in April 2021, when Jones and his father, Karl Jones, confronted a novel problem upon reaching the USA Boxing nationwide event in Shreveport, Louisiana.
“We acquired to Shreveport, and I needed to win the nationals there to safe my spot as an elite on Workforce USA—my first elite event,” Jones mentioned. “However after we arrived, the primary lodge we stayed at misplaced energy, the water was chilly, and all of the automobile leases had been taken.”
With few choices left, his father Carl discovered an answer. It was unconventional, to say the least.
“There was a U-Haul truck proper throughout the road from the lodge,” Omari mentioned. “Not simply any U-Haul, however the large transferring truck with the field on the again. My dad mentioned, ‘We will try this.’ We saved my stuff within the again and simply went with it. We pulled as much as the lodge in that U-Haul, and it actually confirmed that as a boxer, you do no matter it takes to get the place that you must go.”
Joseph Peres, an beginner boxing coach, was on the similar event and had first seen Jones throughout a 2018 occasion in Charleston, West Virginia. “It was the primary time I noticed Omari Jones,” Peres mentioned. “He was simply 14, a junior, and he swept by way of the 15-16 division. I bear in mind pondering, ‘This child can field.'”
Peres, who was teaching a fighter named Amari Jones on the time, took be aware of the similarity in names, making Omari stand out to him. Years later, Peres once more seen Jones on the 2021 event, this time due to the U-Haul.
“I bear in mind seeing them using round in that U-Haul,” Peres mentioned. “I used to be strolling in all places, and I assumed, ‘Man, that is the stuff we undergo to get to those tournaments.’ It was dope. They stood out—they didn’t simply mix in. Folks noticed that U-Haul and knew he was coming. He gained the event, and the remainder was historical past.”
The bizarre alternative drew consideration but it surely served its goal. “Folks had been taking a look at us like, ‘These dudes actually pulled up in a U-Haul,'” Jones mentioned. “Nevertheless it was reliable, acquired us from level A to level B, and I went residence with the belt.”
For Jones, the expertise highlighted the sacrifices and improvisation essential to achieve boxing. “That second is without doubt one of the most memorable of my profession,” Jones mentioned. “We actually pulled up within the U-Haul truck and rented it for the Nationwide Championships.”
From driving a U-Haul in Shreveport to standing on the Olympic podium, Jones has proven a degree of dedication that extends past the ring. His skill to improvise and make issues work set him aside. He wasn’t a high favourite to medal, but he grew to become the one member of Workforce USA to carry residence one.
“We do no matter it takes to get the place we’ve got to go,” Jones mentioned. “We did what we needed to do—my dad all the time mentions it.”
