By Steve Bunce
RIO is weird.
Michael Conlan was the number one seed at the Rio Olympics in the bantamweight division. It seems like a long time ago now.
Vladimir Nikitin was number eight, Shakur Stevenson was number four and Robeisy Ramirez was number six. This is never an easy weight class to win. In the end, it took Ramirez five fights to win the gold medal; those stories are elsewhere.
Floyd Mayweather was all over Pavilion 6 at Riocentro. He kept popping up in doorways and other random places; Mayweather was shopping for Stevenson. I guess he still is.
The Rio Olympics boxing tournament was a disaster in more ways than one. The cries of corruption, we discovered years later, were all true. In the aftermath of those chaotic two weeks, boxing at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 remains uncertain. In fact, right now, it will not be an Olympic sport in Los Angeles, and that’s because of what happened in Rio. It’s that simple – old-school crooks with their faded Cold War agenda ran it, screwed it up, and now plead innocence.
Conlan was rested and then beat Armenia’s Aram Avagyan. He’s in the quarterfinals, and he’ll have to face his old rival, Nikitin. At the 2013 World Championships in Kazakhstan, Nikitin beat Conlan in the quarterfinals. It’s never going to be easy. Never.
Nikitin won twice; an easy win and then a stunning victory over Butdee Chatchai, who had beaten Qais Ashfaq in the opening contest. Nikitin was marked and cut and had staples in the left side of his head to keep the cut from opening. I’m not making this up – it was bloody and gruesome.
Stevenson beat the Brazilian and then knocked out the Mongolian in the quarterfinals. That’s a good move for any fighter, believe me. He looks fresh and young, and Mayweather is right there with him.
Ramirez has beaten the Indian and the Moroccan to set up a quarter-final against third seed Jiawei Zhang of China. Meanwhile, fearsome second seed Murodjon Akhmadaliev has advanced to the quarter-finals. That’s a lot of good, good men heading for a clash.
In 2015, Conlan won both the European Championship and the World Championship, and beat Akhmadaliev in the final of the World Championship in Doha. That’s why he was the number one seed. And that’s why he had a lot of pressure on his shoulders.
On the day of the quarterfinals, Stevenson beat the Mongol, Akhmadaliev stopped the Argentine and Ramirez punched Zhang in the ear. Three times and only a grudge match to decide the fourth. Like I said, it was never going to be easy. By the way, it was a great day, Joe Joyce beat Bakhodir Jalolov. What a great sight.
Conlan dominated the first hand in style. At the end of the round, he discovered – thanks to his great friend Paddy Barnes – that he had actually lost all three cards. His father, John, who was in the corner, got the news of the score and told Michael: “You need to move on.”
It was a change of plans, but Conlan was strong enough to take on Nikitin. There had been a team talk the night before and Conlan had been told he could stop Nikitin. In the second round he came forward, it was more of a brawl, and he won that round. Then it was the third round and there was a feeling in the hall, a bad feeling.
Conlan vs Nikitin in their infamous amateur fight Action Pictures
In my mind, the third round was pretty close, but five years ago, I sat down with Conlan and watched the fight back. Conlan won easily. He waited for the decision, but he didn’t look confident – the score was in, and he was out. The Olympic dream was over.
Nikitin had a staple wound on the left side of his head that was bleeding, and a fresh cut over his left eye was bleeding. He looked more like a loser than any winner I had ever seen. In the ring, with his hands by his sides, Conlan angry to the point of violence
“I wanted to spit on the judges – spit on all of them and tell them they ruined my dream,” Conlan told me.
Conlan left the ring and now regrets it. Nikitin is still jumping up and down and smiling.
“I wish I had stayed in the ring and sat down – that would have been a good protest,” Conlan said. There was a series of angry, furious interviews. Conlan attacked from the heart.
There was talk of an investigation in Rio, but the appeal process has been abandoned since London. If there had been an appeal process, I truly believe Conlan would have been declared the winner and there would have been justice. It was so blatant, there was no justification. Conlan walked out of Rio and out of amateur boxing. He left behind a few pictures and some words – both of which played a key role in the global effort to change the image of amateur boxing.
Russia’s Vladimir Nikitin makes controversial decision on Conlan at Olympics Action Images/Peter Cziborra
Nikitin was ruled out by the doctors and could not fight in the semi-finals. Conlan was not allowed to return; Stevenson was then cleared for the finals. It was a bad time to be near the action. In the finals, Ramirez defeated Stevenson. The fight was tense, but not as tense as people thought.
That was the main story from Olympic boxing in Rio. It was a story of desperation, corruption and suffering. In 2019, Conlan met Nikitin at Madison Square Garden and again lost 1-0, this time the right man won. It was a form of revenge.
