Jahmal Harvey, 21, is an American local boxing champion, He won the gold medal in the 2023 Pan American Games in the 92 kg category, capturing a Ticket for the Paris Olympics 2024.
Jahmal Harvey’s Early and Family Life
Born on November 19, 2002, Jahmal Harvey was born to his parents Kim Harvey-Blakely and Jamarr Moody in Oxon Hill, Maryland. Despite his father’s absence, Jahmal’s loving single mother worked tirelessly to provide for her four children.
Jahmal had three siblings – older brother Domonic, 22, middle brother Amir Lee, 16, and younger sister Kimora Lee, 15
The rambunctious kid from around the way, 5th grader Jahmal attended the local Flora L. Hendley Elementary School where he was better known for class clown antics than academic achievements.
Jahmal Harvey Qualifies for the Paris 2024 Olympics
Over the past year, 21-year-old boxer Jahmal Harvey captured gold at two international tournaments in 2023, including a gold medal at the Santiago Pan American Games, Harvey has officially qualified to compete at the upcoming 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
Harvey punched his ticket to the next Olympics after defeating Gabriel Oliveira of Brazil at the 2023 Pan American Games. While he was certainly happy to have qualified for Paris 2024, Harvey explained that he is not an overly emotional guy.
Harvey is singularly focused on adding more titles and medals to his quickly growing collection. After his latest victory, a determined Harvey stated:
“This means a lot to me, I have been working hard for this. This is extra motivation to win gold tomorrow at the Pan American Games, then get a gold at the Olympics. I already got the gold at the World Championships, so time to complete that trifecta.”
stated Harvey following his victory.
The career of Jahmal Harvey So far
Trying His Hand at Boxing
Long before lacing up the gloves, Harvey grew up playing competitive football during his childhood in Oxon Hill.
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He was friends with the school’s football coach who soon opened up a local boxing gym to cross-train athletes. As Harvey explains:
“My football coach started a boxing gym,” “He had other football players come and workout too, but I stuck with it. So, I was the first one to start fighting.”
stated Harvey on the beginning of his boxing journey.
Although other football teammates cycled through, 13-year-old Jahmal competed at the junior and youth levels. He tore through regional and national junior tournaments, attaining gold medal after gold medal.
Professional Career
Since first stepping in the ring over 8 years ago, Oxon Hill’s Jahmal Harvey has quickly risen the ranks to become an elite force in boxing. After tearing through the amateur youth and junior circuits, Harvey has established himself as a world-class professional fighter.
As early as 2016 when Harvey captured 1st place honors at the National Junior Olympics. Over the next few years, despite some runner-up finishes, Harvey racked up 8 first-place wins across top tournaments including the Youth National Championships, Junior Olympics, and Eastern Regional Open.
After qualifying for international tournaments, Harvey defeated world-class amateur boxers as an emerging star in the sport. By 2020, he captured the USA Elite National Championship.
The year 2021 marked Harvey’s breakthrough as a professional when he won the World Boxing Championship against Brazil’s Gabriel Oliveira as a 21-year-old. Harvey also defeated Kazakhstan’s Serik Temirzhanov for the world title during the AIBA World Boxing Championships Featherweight.
After the 2021 World title. Though he came up just short in the 2022 USA Boxing Invitational (3rd place) and AMBC Elite Championships (2nd place), Harvey has the drive and skills to rebound with more first-place trophies.
