Boxing judges removed after Irish Olympian's match-fixing allegations
A day after Irish boxer Michael Conlan went on an angry rant in Rio, accusing the judges and the Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA) of match-fixing, the AIBA has removed several judges and referees from the remaining Olympics competition.
Despite most observers thinking that Conlan won his Olympic quarterfinal bout against Russia's Vladimir Nikitin on Tuesday, the judges awarded Nikitin two out of three rounds, prompting Conlan's tirade and, later, a fiery tweet directed at Russian president Vladimir Putin.
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But, it seems, maybe there was something to Conlan's complaints. According to a report by the New York Times, the AIBA removed the judges and referees after a review of other Rio results showed questionable results.
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In AIBA's statement, the organization said, after reviewing all 239 bouts in competition in Rio, that "less than a handful of the decisions were not at the level expected," but that's still enough to warrant removal of the officials.
According to the Times, Conlan's loss wasn't the only questionable bout with a Russian victor.
On Monday, the crowd jeered when another Russian fighter, Evgeny Tishchenko, was awarded a unanimous decision over Vassiliy Levit of Kazakhstan, who appeared to have won the bout handily. The decision in the Tishchenko-Levit fight was made by judges from Algeria, Colombia and Ireland. Judges from Brazil, Poland and Sri Lanka were working Conlan’s quarterfinal bout.
On Wednesday, reports began to circulate that Nikitin was so battered by Conlan in their bout that he'd had to withdraw from his scheduled semifinal bout. For now, though, Nikitin is still on the schedule for Thursday's bout.
As for Conlan, he's understandably still salty about the result and the decision to send the officials home didn't really make him less angry.
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Still, he's not letting the controversial decision stop him from having a good time while he's still in Rio.
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Topics Olympics
Marcus Gilmer is Mashable's Assistant Real-Times News Editor on the West Coast, reporting on breaking news from his location in San Francisco. An Alabama native, Marcus earned his BA from Birmingham-Southern College and his MFA in Communications from the University of New Orleans. Marcus has previously worked for Chicagoist, The A.V. Club, the Chicago Sun-Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.
