Former WBA bantamweight champion Bernard Dunne has claimed that Michael Conlan has been let down by the AIBA and called for the suspension of judges.
Conlan was robbed of victory against Russian fighter Vladamir Nikitin in his Olympic bantamweight quarter-final with all three judges awarding the fight to the Russian despite Conlan being the clear victor.
Conlan was dominant throughout but amazingly the judges awarded him just one round, giving the other two to the Russian, who was out-classed and left hanging on at the end.
It’s not the first time that Russian fighters have been the beneficiaries of appalling decisions in Olympic boxing this summer.
Russian heavyweight fighter Evgeny Tishchenko was awarded a gold in hugely dubious circumstances after the judges gave him the decision against Kazakhstan’s Vassiliy Levit on Monday night and Dunne insists that is’ time for the AIBA to take a stand.
'Amateur boxing stinks' - The RTÉ panel discusses Michael Conlan's controversial defeat https://t.co/miT6HjqUYn
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 16, 2016
“That referee and all judges in that fight should be suspended,” Dunne said.
“[Conlan] has done his country proud, he’s done himself proud and he’s been let down by the amateur organisation. He’s been let down by World Boxing.
“I said just before we went to the fight that the judging of the first round would tell us what Michael needed to do. The judging of that first round was just ridiculous.
“AIBA needs to look at itself because that just turns people off boxing. It turns me off boxing and I love the sport.
“It’s ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. He gave a boxing lesson [in the first round]. He moved, he controlled the ring, he didn’t allow himself to get caught on the ropes. It’s just ridiculous.
“I feel for the kid, I absolutely do. It’s a horrible thing to have happen to you and it will sour the taste of amateur sport for him for the rest of his life.”
Irish Olympic gold medalist Michael Carruth echoed Dunne's comments and called the decision 'pure robbery'.
“Look at his opponent’s decision when he got the decision, he knew he didn’t win that and he got it. How can we keep out amateurs as amateurs, if that continues to happen?
“We won the first clear, he won the second clear and the third one was close. The judges had it the wrong way around.
“I know the Iron Bloc is gone, but really is it when you sees these kind of robberies going on? These are pure robberies.”
"Something has to be done with AIBA because this is deplorable."
Watch @paddyb_ireland's immediate reaction to the decision of the judges in Michael Conlan's fight.https://t.co/rx4FRC3uMH
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 16, 2016
