Irish boxer Michael Conlan appeared to have beaten Russia’s Vladimir Nikitin, although judges gave Nikitin the victory in a 56-kilogram division quaterfinal.
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U.S. bantamweight Shakur Stevenson will fight for a gold medal on Saturday after he won his semifinal bout by walkover due to injury to his opponent. “It is time now for the International Olympic Committee to step in”, said the official, according to The Guardian.
He said he was glad that US boxer Claressa Shields did not suffer from bad judging in her fight with Russia’s Iaroslava Iakushina on August 16, in which Shields won the gold medal and retained the Olympic middleweight champion title.
The AIBA today revealed that a number of judges have been removed following a string of controversial decisions at the Olympic Games so far, although none of the judges involved in Conlan’s defeat to Nitikin have been affected.
“The latest decisions taken emphasised AIBA will not shy away from its responsibilities and will continue to ensure a level playing field and a fair and transparent sport”, a statement said. It did not name any individuals.
World champion bantamweight Conlan went on an expletive-laden rant on live television after losing to Nikitin, and told reporters he would never fight again in any AIBA-organised competition.
Gary Russell throws a right at Fazliddin Gaibnazarov.
“I came up watching Robeisy in the Olympics”.
It did not say what the concerned bouts were, but a firestorm erupted on Monday when the Russian Evgeny Tishchenko was awarded the heavyweight title against the Kazakh Vassiliy Levit, but most observers and the booing crowd felt it was the wrong decision. Judges are still training in the system’s nuances, but the change has been well received.
USA Boxing have now confirmed their fighter Stevenson has progressed into the final, with the head of the Russian delegation at the Games Igor Kazikov also confirming their fighter’s withdrawal.
The scoring was computerised in 1989, with judges pushing a button whenever a punch was made.
The new system involves five judges ringside who all score the fight, with a computer deciding at random which three of the five will count.
That has not eliminated suspicion, however, with Britain’s Guardian newspaper reporting this month that there were fears within the sport that some bouts could be fixed.
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“Before the Games, we got the bad feeling that with an ex-Irish referee, who was part of AIBA, and came out and outed them, that they were going to come down hard on us for him coming out and having his say”, Conlan said.
