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Irish boxing coach Zaur Antia expresses his outrage at "disgraceful" decision in Michael O'Reilly bout

It was a good night for Team Ireland at the World Boxing Championships in Doha, as Michael Conlan...



Irish boxing coach Zaur Antia...
Off The Ball Radio

Irish boxing coach Zaur Antia expresses his outrage at "disgraceful" decision in Michael O'Reilly bout

It was a good night for Team Ireland at the World Boxing Championships in Doha, as Michael Conlan claimed gold. 

However, there was also a moment that tinged the evening with bitterness, as Michael O'Reilly's bout against Hosam Abdin of Egypt ended in controversial fashion. 

Convinced that he and his corner had won the bout, the expression on O'Reilly's face says it all, as he looks completely deflated and confused when the referee held his opponent's hand aloft.

 

Image: ©INPHO/Francis Myers

The result of the judge's decision not only cost him a chance at a place in the final, but it also put a roadblock on his path to qualification for the Olympic Games in Rio next year, and his coach Zaur Antia was not happy about it. He took to Facebook to say that he couldn't understand how the fight had been awarded to Abdin, and that it was a "disgraceful" outcome. 

Via Zaur Antia/Facebook

Speaking to Off The Ball, coach Billy Walsh echoed those sentiments, saying "I'm astounded to be honest with you. There's a young man, his opportunity to qualify for the Olympic Games, who's done tremendously well this year and is poised to finish in the top four in the world, and it's been taken away from him, wrongly in my opinion"

Via SportsJoe

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