“Cheats” – Furious Michael Conlan slams AIBA after disgraceful decision

Daylight robbery.

Michael Conlan was denied a second Olympic medal, and a chance at Olympic gold, by a frankly ludicrous decision by judges in Rio. The 24-year-old was understandably furious after Vladimir Nikitin was somehow awarded a unanimous decision in their quarter-final bout. Conlan outfought, outthought and outboxed his Russian opponent, but was robbed of the chance to add to his European, Commonwealth and World titles. The Belfast bantamweight was furious after the decision, calling the AIBA "cheating bastards" live on RTE and swearing never to fight amateur again.

"Yeah, AIBA are cheats. They’re fucking cheats. 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. 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. "Do you feel like that the boxing federation needs to take a good look at themselves? "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."

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