Michael Conlan hasn’t lost his sense of humour anyway.
Most would agree that he’d done enough to beat Vladimir Nikitin in his 56 kg boxing bout at the Rio Olympics, but the judges scored the fight in favour of the Russian.
Within minutes of the fight’s conclusion, the 24-year-old swore never to fight amateur again and was understandably furious as he spoke to a reporter from Irish broadcaster, RTÉ.
“AIBA [the International Boxing Association] are cheats. Fucking cheats. As simple as that. That’s me, I’ll never box for AIBA again. They’re fucking cheats,” Conlan said in a furious live interview immediately after the fight. “They’re paying everybody. Amateur boxing stinks from the core right to the top.
“I was here to win Olympic gold. My dream’s been shattered now. But 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.”
“It’s like Katie [Taylor] yesterday, No way she lost that fight. It was a close fight, but she didn’t lose.
“I thought I boxed the ears off him in the first round, but they scored it against me. So I had to fight his fight, which I did, outfought him. It’s a shambles to be honest.
“I’m gutted, from the bottom of my heart. I wanted to go back with a gold medal to Ireland. Now I feel I’m going back a loser. I’m not a loser, I’m a winner. Today just showed how corrupt this organisation is.”
Minutes later, the Belfast boxer tweeted Russian president Vladimir Putin directly, asking him how much he parted with to secure his compatriot’s victory.
At least he hasn’t lost his sense of humour.
Hey Vlad @PutinRF_Eng
How much did they charge you bro?? @AIBA_Boxing #Rio2016 😘
— Michael Conlan (@mickconlan11) August 16, 2016
