Victorious Caitlin Parker believes the Olympics' approval of two boxers who had failed gender eligibility tests is "incredibly dangerous" ahead of a potential showdown with one of her teammates in Paris.
Australian boxing captain Parker led from the front on Wednesday, dominating Mexico's Vanessa Ortiz with a unanimous 5-0 points decision to reach the quarter-finals of the 75kg division.
It followed an earlier loss for Shannan Davey to Bulgaria's Rami Mofid, but Charlie Senior (57kg) is also just one win away from a medal after beating Belgium's Vasile Usturoi 4-1.
The 22-year-old won a tight and furious first round 3-2, before dominating the final two rounds to win on four of the five judges' cards and book a Saturday quarter-final berth.
Parker will fight for a semi-final berth on Sunday.
Marissa Williamson will make her Olympic debut on Thursday in a women's 66kg division now in the spotlight after the International Olympic Committee confirmed two boxers who were disqualified from the world championships last year for failing gender eligibility tests will be allowed to fight in Paris.
Imane Khelif of Algeria (66kg) and Taiwan's Lin Yu‑ting (57kg) were thrown out by the International Boxing Association that has since lost sanctioning power of the Olympics due to integrity concerns.
Williamson and Khelif will meet in the quarter-finals if they both win on Wednesday.
The IBA claimed the boxers' chromosome tests came back as XY, which is typically the male chromosome, rather than a female's XX.
The IOC is in charge of Paris's boxing program and has instructed the sport to find a new sanctioning body by early next year to ensure its Games' future.
"I don't agree with them being allowed to compete in sport, especially combat sports," Parker said.
"It can be incredibly dangerous.
"It's not like I haven't sparred men before. But you know it can be dangerous for combat sports and it should be seriously looked into.
"Yes, biologically ... genetically they are going to have more advantages.
"I really hope the organisations get their act together so that boxing can continue to be at the Olympics.
"It's the oldest Olympic sport. Women's boxing was only introduced in 2012 and I want to see it for the next 100, 200 years to come."
Beaten in Parker's division on Wednesday, Filipino boxer Hergie Bacyadan identifies as a man but was born with female organs and has never undergone hormone replacement therapy.
He agreed with Parker, telling reporters through a translator "in sparring it's okay, but if they have XY chromosomes in competition, they should abide by the rules".
But Australian boxing coach Santiago Nieva said there would be no complaints if Williamson and Khelif collide.
"She was disqualified, but I have not seen her fail any gender test," he said of the Algerian, who competed in Tokyo three years ago.
"The IOC said they are matching the criteria from the IOC, so that's the only thing you can go by.
"We fought her two months ago. She's good, she's tough, she's strong, but I wasn't under the impression we were fighting a man.
"We are prepared to fight anyone in front of us here.
"I understand this issue is not as black and white as many people want to make it.
"We don't have all the information so I don't want to speculate on that. We have competed against them before, we have fought them before. We are ready to do that again and beat them."
