By Michael Chammas
Rio de Janeiro: "Hey Vlad, how much did they charge you bro?"
That's the incredible reaction from Irish bantamweight boxer Michael Conlan, who sent a message on Twitter to Russian President Vladimir Putin questioning how much they bribed judges to award Russia's Vladimir Nikitin the win in the Rio Olympics quarter-finals.
The Irishman, who appeared to have dominated his Russian opponent, was stunned when he lost a unanimous points decision, flipping the bird to the judges before unloading with cries of corruption in the sport.
Conlan, the reigning world champion, blasted Olympic boxing body AIBA for being "rotten to the core", insisting he had been denied what was rightfully his victory because of the Russians' influence on the judges.
Ireland's Michael Conlan walks around with his shirt off after losing his fight.Credit: AP
"AIBA are just corrupt," Conlan said.
"They've robbed me of my Olympic dream. Obviously Russia can't dope this time so they are obviously paying the judges a lot more.
"They are corrupt. I will never box an AIBA competition again. Not APB, not WSB, not world championships or Olympic Games. Corruption runs deep. I just think they are rotten to the core."
Conlan lost 28-29 on all three scoreboards, leaving the 24-year-old outraged over how the judges from Brazil, Sri Lanka and Poland came up with the decision.
Russia's Vladimir Nikitin, right, is bloodied and bruised during his fight with Michael Conlan.Credit: AP
"I was boxing the ears off him, I don't know how it went against me," Conlan said.
"I thought the first round I won easy by boxing him. Second round I completely annihilated him standing in close to him. Third round the same, probably a bit closer than the second. I put a serious shift in.
Vladimir Nikitin, left, celebrates his win.Credit: AP
"He was completely surprised [to win]. He roared like he'd won the Olympic gold... He knows he didn't win. The American kid's going to pick him to shreds and I wouldn't be surprised if they rob him too."
"Obviously Russia can't dope this time so they are obviously paying the judges a lot more," he added.
Conlan's disgust comes a day after another controversial decision went in favour of Russian heavyweight Evgeny Tishchenko, who was booed after winning gold on a points decision against Kazakhstan's Vasily Levit.
Russian officials in Rio declined to comment on the allegations.
An AIBA spokesman defended the decision that ended Conlan's Olympic dream.
"Afterwards, it's his personal judgment," he said. "All I can say is that AIBA is striving for a fair, level playing field."
"The idea is not to benefit one country towards another, we represent 200 national federations. These statements are groundless but he's free to have his opinion."
US coach Billy Walsh, who is Irish, joined in the criticism of the judging after his light-welterweight Gary Russell lost a quarter-final to Uzbekistan's Fazliddin Gaibnazarov on a split decision.
"Anybody can be beaten here and the judging has been atrocious," Walsh said.
"The last time I saw it as bad was in Seoul in 1988 when Roy Jones got robbed in the final. I saw Michael Conlan's first two rounds in the changing area and he completely out-boxed this guy. He out-fought him in the second round and out-boxed him in the first. And he didn't get it."
Dozens of Russian athletes, including virtually the entire track and field team, were suspended as part of sanctions against the country for a systematic state-backed doping programme that included the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.
The boxing scoring system has been changed for the Rio Games from a computerised system to a professional-style, 10-point one.
The three judges all gave Conlan the second round 10-9 10-9 10-9, but scored the first and last in favour of his rival.
Nikitin will fight highly-rated American boxer Shakur Stevenson in the semi-finals.
- With Reuters