Like most other boxing fans we were shocked at the decision that went against Belfast’s Michael Conlan in Rio when he was robbed in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.
Bantamweight Conlan, 24, the Commonwealth, European, World amateur Champion and former Olympic bronze medalist, held back no punches in his post fight assessment of the fight which saw the judges award the win to his Russian opponent Vladimir Nikitin.
Conlan was a clear winner and should now be in the semi-finals and on course to accomplish his Olympic gold dream that he has worked so so hard for and the judges incompetence and down right iffy scoring needs to be accountable for! An upset Conlan let them have it, in a no holds barred rant to an RTE interviewer on live TV, good on the lad! His words, even though they were not for everyones ears, was an heart felt reaction that was delivered concise and could well be the catalyst to finally oust the culprits that bring amateur boxing game into disrepute.
Watch the full post fight interview here
“The AIBA are cheats. They’re fucking cheats.” said an angry upset Conan.
“That’s me. I’ll never box for AIBA again. They’re cheating bastards who are paying everybody. I don’t give a fuck if I’m cursing on TV.
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“That here is the Olympic gold. My dreams have been shattered now. Do you know what? I’ve a big career ahead of me. And these ones? They’re known for being cheats and they’ll always be cheats. Amateur boxing stinks from the core right to the top.”
“Like Katie yesterday. No way she lost that fight. It was a close fight but she didn’t lose. Today I thought I boxed the ears off him in the first round and they scored it against me. So I had to go to his fight, which I did, outfought him.
“It’s a shambles to be honest. I don’t even care what I’m saying. I’m probably just blabbering on. I’m gutted from the bottom of my heart. I wanted to go back with a gold medal to ireland. Now I feel like I’m going back as a loser. I’m not a loser, I’m a winner. And today just showed how corrupt this organisation is.”
Having had time to reflect on the fight, Conlan spoke by phone from Rio to NewsTalk.com
about his comments and his thoughts on everything now he has had time to look back on the events of the last couple of days in Brazil and his thoughts on the future of the game and his future. Listen here below:
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