Michael Conlan believes that amateur boxing’s problems run so deep that he’s not convinced the sport should continue to be a part of the Olympic Games.
Conlan was robbed of a place in the semi-finals of Rio 2016 when a clear victory for the Belfast boxer was ripped away from him and handed to opponent, Russia’s Vladimir Nikitin, in Tuesday’s bantamweight quarter-final.
The 24-year-old branded the judges involved “cheats” in the moments immediately following his defeat and vowed never to box for AIBA again.
On Wednesday night, Conlan appeared on Off The Ball where he doubled down on his condemnation for the current state of amateur boxing and continued to question its legitimacy.
“It stinks,” Conlan said. “I believe the whole system of amateur boxing at the minute is – Olympic boxing especially – is stinking.
“I think the IOC need to have a look at boxing in the Olympics and wonder should it even be in Tokyo. If I was a young boxer watching the Olympics, I don’t think I’d want to be there.”
After admitting that he had long had an “inkling that there is corruption in boxing,” Conlan went on to suggest that there could possibly have been a concerted conspiracy against the Irish boxers in Rio.
He continued: “Before the Games, we got the bad feeling that with an ex-Irish referee, who was part of AIBA, and came out and outed them, that they were going to come down hard on us for him coming out and having his say.”
There were suggestions on Wednesday that Nikitin, the man who ‘beat’ Conlan, was to withdraw from his semi-final due to the severity of his cuts caused by Team Ireland’s last chance of medalling in boxing this year.
This would be a final slap in the face for Michael Conlan… https://t.co/0yYIYVfxqr
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOE_UK) August 17, 2016
And as much as he doesn’t believe Nikitin is worthy of a place in the final four, Conlan is hopeful that his recent opponent has not been forced out with cuts.
“I’m still heartbroken. It’s done now. I’ve moved on. I’ve seen apparently the Russian is probably out of the semi-final because of the damage I’ve caused him,” Conlan said.
“I hope it’s not true and I hope he’s still in the semi-final but I don’t think he deserves to be there anyway.”
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