Ireland's boxing misery at the Rio 2016 Olympics has been completed with an astonishingly controversial defeat for Michael Conlan to Russia's Vladimir Nikitin. Conlan seemed to utterly dominate the first round, only for all three judges to bewilderingly score in favour of the Russian. The second round was given to Conlan, with all three judges awarding an admittedly closer final round to The Russian.
It was a disgraceful decision by the judges, with the first round as clear a win for Conlan as you are likely to see.
There were serious suspicions ahead of the fight, following the controversial awarding of a heavyweight fight to a Russian fighter last night. One of the judges from last night reappeared for Conlan today:
The Algerian referee for Conlan's fight was one of the judges for Tischenko's controversial win last night #OTBRio2016
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) August 16, 2016
Darren O'Neill on commentary for RTE said he could not comprehend the result of the first round, a
That is an absolute disgrace, how did every judge go against @mickconlan11 in that first round? Unbelievable, judges are a joke #boxing
— Marc Coleman (@moneycoleman) August 16, 2016
I'm not watching any more amateur boxing if Conlon doesn't get this verdict
— Dodge (@seidodge) August 16, 2016
What a farce. These judges are a disgrace #MichaelConlan #Rio2016
— Neal Cummins (@NealCummins) August 16, 2016
This is a disgrace.
— John Fogarty (@JohnFogartyIrl) August 16, 2016
Oh. My. Word. The boxing tournament being reduced to farce. And not for the first time.
— Ben Dirs (@bendirs1) August 16, 2016
Conlon judged to have lost when he clear won. After last night too anyone believe #Rio2016 boxing is judged fairly when Russians fight?
— Matt Cooper (@cooper_m) August 16, 2016
Disgusting. This sport is f**ked
— Hugh Cahill (@hughcahill7) August 16, 2016
Jesus, @mickconlan11 has been robbed there. You could hear the shock in @DarrenONeil's voice after that decision #rterio2016
— Trevor Spillane (@TrevorSpillane) August 16, 2016
Fucking disgraceful @mickconlan11 that's disgusting robbed 🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪
— Neil 2 Tap Seery (@NeilSeeryMMA) August 16, 2016
Depressing. Disgraceful. Desponding.
Conlan will be a great in the future. Today, however, it's all hard to process.
