IRISH BOXING COACH Eddie Bolger has suggested his team might have been punished for embarrassing the International Boxing Association (AIBA) over the Michael O’Reilly doping scandal.
Michael Conlan’s controversial defeat this afternoon means the Irish team will return home from the Olympics without a medal for the first time since the 2004 Games.
All seven boxers have been knocked out before the medals have been handed out but the elimination of Conlan and Katie Taylor has left a particularly sour taste in the mouth.
Conlan was robbed of another Olympic bronze as all three judges decided his Russian opponent was the victor in their bantamweight quarter-final, leaving Bolger to wonder were his boxers being punished for what developed before the Games.
“I thought there was only winner, I thought there was only one winner yesterday,” he said. “Something’s afoot. I think the media should highlight it more than us, we can’t really speak.
“There are rumours around the village that names are on the medals already, you don’t believe that or you don’t want to be that naive.
“Again our performances in the ring have been second to none, they’ve been really good. We’ve competed with the best in the world here, there have been a few split decisions and we really can’t control those decisions.
“I’m so proud of Michael Conlan, I’m so proud of Katie yesterday. They’ve held themselves together better than I have. I’m so proud of all the team. This is has been a great Olympics. We’ve learned a lot.
“We kind of embarrassed the AIBA at the start and maybe we’re being punished for that, I don’t know the real reason. It’s just boggling.”
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