One of England’s two most prominent promotional companies has made Omari Jones’ American dream come true.

The Ring has learned Jones, who won a welterweight bronze medal for the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, and Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing have agreed to terms on a multi-year promotional contract. Jones, 22, is expected to make his pro debut in a six-rounder against an undetermined opponent March 15 in the co-feature of a card DAZN will stream worldwide from Caribe Royale Orlando in Orlando, Florida, Jones’ hometown.

The 6-foot-1 Jones will campaign as a junior middleweight in the professional ranks, though he thinks he eventually will compete at the super middleweight limit of 168 pounds. He is trained in Orlando by Jason Galarza, most known for his work with junior middleweight contender Erickson Lubin, and his father, Carl Jones.

The younger Jones emerged from Paris as perhaps the most promising prospect among the four American male boxers who represented the United States. He lost a split decision to Uzbekistan’s Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev in the welterweight semifinals August 6 at Roland Garros Stadium.

Jones, who also owns a second-degree black belt in karate, choose Matchroom over other promoters because of the progress Hearn’s company has made while working with top American fighters in recent years – most notably IBF welterweight champ Jaron “Boots” Ennis, WBC lightweight champ Shakur Stevenson and IBF junior welterweight champ Richardson Hitchins.

“I feel like what separated Matchroom from a lot of the other promoters was when I got the message from Eddie Hearn in my Instagram DMs the day after my last fight in the Olympics,” Jones told The Ring. “And then the following day we actually sat down and met, and he just had a whole blueprint and plan. Right now, Matchroom is the company that I feel has the most fights going on. And, of course, being so young right now in the sport of boxing, activity is definitely very important for me at this stage.”

Before Muydinkhujaev defeated Jones, 3-2, the disciplined, precise, rangy, technically sound American hadn’t lost a single round according to any of the judges during shutout victories over Chinese Taipei’s Kan Chia-wei in the Round of 16 and Bulgaria’s Rami Kiwan in the quarterfinals. Muydinkhujaev, 23, was one of five male fighters from Uzbekistan who won gold medals in Paris.

“That was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Jones said of fighting in the Olympics. “I worked my whole life getting to the Olympic games. And after I didn’t qualify in my first go-around, I had to go into a place where I had to work harder, train harder. I did that, and I felt like that separated me, helped me qualify and then become the only fighter to medal for the United States. But Paris, man, I had my family there, the fans loved me, and I just felt like amateur boxing definitely gave me a base to be able to go into the pro ranks.”

Jones’ close loss to Muydinkhujaev denied him an opportunity to become the first American male to win a gold medal in boxing since Andre Ward in 2004. Ward, of Hayward, California, beat Belarus’ Magomed Aripgadgiev, 20-13, in the light heavyweight gold medal match in Athens before he became a super middleweight and light heavyweight world champion and one of the best boxers, pound-for-pound, of his era.

Beyond boxing, the socially conscious Jones intends to start a foundation in Orlando that would provide kids with a safe space to learn boxing and receive academic assistance through tutoring programs. He graduated in December with an associate’s degree from Valencia College, a two-year school in Orlando.