The pundits made their feelings known.
“Shocking. Terrible. Totally robbed,” said former champion Richie Woodhall.
England’s Dimeji Shittu had to settle for silver at the Commonwealth Games on Saturday after a controversial defeat by India’s Ankush Panghal.
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Shittu, 24, was docked a point in both the second and third rounds but even without that, he would not have won after more controversial decision-making.
“The referee has cost Shittu the contest,” Woodhall said on TNT Sports. “He has been robbed. I really feel for him.”
It meant one of boxing’s oldest talking points – how it is officiated – reared its head again. Would judging run or supported by artificial intelligence help solve this problem?
What happened to Shittu?
Shittu was well-placed in his final after winning the round on all five of the judges’ scorecards. One punch resulted in Ankush receiving a standing count.
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The contest swung in the second round, however.
Despite Shittu appearing to land the majority of the blows, three of the judges gave the round to Ankush.
It meant when a point was harshly deducted for dipping his head low, the Englishman was trailing overall.
Then when Shittu was punished for the same offence again despite hurting Ankush through the final round, the contest was effectively decided.
“Do me a favour, referee,” said Woodhall as the second penalty was given.
“That is dreadful, absolutely dreadful,” said TNT commentator Dave Farrar.
Remarkably, four of the judges still gave the final round to Ankush which meant the point deductions did not even matter. Shittu would have lost without them.
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“How did [Ankush] win that last round on the scores 4-1?” Woodhall said.
“Absolutely terrible. Shocking. That is not sour grapes.”
England equalled their record medal haul at a Commonwealth Games from 2018 but fell short of their most golds won [PA Media]
What did Shittu say?
Shittu, to his credit, refused to get drawn into the debate afterwards.
He appeared distraught as the result was confirmed but said “whatever the referee says goes”.
“A lot of people might say this about the referee, the judging, but at the end of the day I can only blame myself,” he told BBC Sport.
“Those are the rules. We live and we learn.
“At the end of the day, it’s a foul in amateur boxing. It cost me the fight.
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“If people think I should have got the decision, fair play, I understand.
“But if I’m sitting here blaming judges, blaming refs, I’m not going to get better.”
What about AI?
Delicious Orie, England’s superheavyweight champion from the 2022 Commonwealth Games, was another who believed the result was unfair.
“The referee has stripped the medal from Dimeji,” he told TNT Sports.
And Orie went on to suggest introducing AI into boxing judging would be a way to improve the situation.
The topic has been discussed increasingly in recent years with the technology being used to judge Tyson Fury’s bout with Oleksandr Usyk behind the scenes in 2024.
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Under president and former unified world champion Gennadiy Golovkin, World Boxing, which runs amateur boxing around the world including at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, has made moves to look into the implementation.
Nothing is imminent but the desire is there to investigate whether AI it could help improve transparency and integrity.
Traditionalists, though, may feel that subjectivity is simply part of the sport.
Technology has been used in other sports but more often for factual situation – was a forward offside, did a forehand land out, was there an edge of a cricket bat?
Would AI be able to determine the power of a punch? Are all punches equal? Those are issues that need to be considered.
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“I wouldn’t necessarily be against it,” Orie said.
“Then it becomes an objective sport. If I knew there was a specific set of scoring then yeah, bring AI.
“I would follow that rule book rather than someone’s opinion.”
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