Conlan whipped his vest off and showed the finger to those judges at ringside who gave the fight to Nikitin.
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Those involved in the decisions were sent home as a result, with the association also issuing a strongly-worded statement.
The so-called AIBA R&J Commission (referees and judges) had reviewed all 239 bouts to date in Rio “and determined that less than a handful of the decisions were not at the level expected”, said the statement.
AIBA picks five judges to work each bout, and prohibits judges from a fighter’s country, or from a country in conflict with a fighter’s country, from working a fight.
Russia’s Vladimir Nikitin was clearly beaten by Ireland’s Michael Conlan, and Gary Russel of the U.S. lost a split decision to Uzbekistan’s Fazliddin Gaibnazarov, which prompted former Pound 4 Pound champion Floyd Mayweather to declare a robbery.
“I was here to win Olympic gold, my dream’s been shattered now”, Conlan told RTÉ Sport.
“AIBA will never say they were corrupt, they will say they weren’t happy with their performance”, said a highly placed source.
“AIBA are cheats, they’re f***ing cheats, simple as that”, Conlan said.
Despite the high-profile problems, the Rio Olympics have featured fewer judging controversies than in previous recent games. But when the decision was announced, his joy turned to sheer disbelief and then rage as he flipped a double-bird at the judges.
On Tuesday night, Kazakhstan’s Vassiliy Levit looked to have done enough to win heavyweight gold in the final against Russian Evgeny Tishchenko.
Several commentators also questioned the judges’ decision to declare Nikitin the victor over Thailand’s Chatchai Butdee in the previous round, leading to fears that Conlan would suffer the fate he did.
A Russian boxer was also on the winning side of another very odd decision when Evgeny Tishchenko was, in the words of AP columnist Tim Dahlberg, “handed an inexplicable decision win” over Kazakhstan’s Vasiliy Levit in their heavyweight gold medal match.
The number of judges – and the names – have not been released by AIBA. “We’re in a transition period and we have a job to do with our coaches to train their boxers towards the criteria which AIBA is looking for”, he said.
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The scoring system has been changed for Rio from a computerized system to a professional-style, 10-point one.
