Remember Vladimir Nikitin? He’s the boxer who won the controversial decision against Northern Ireland’s Mick Conlan in the quarterfinals of the men’s bantamweight division. Well some feel the decision he won looks even more suspicious after it was determined Nikitin could not fight in the semifinals because of injuries.
Nikitin pulled out of his Thursday semifinals bout against Shakur Stevenson because of the injuries he’s dealing with. That no doubt will not sit well with Conlan, who flipped off the judges and ranted after losing the decision in their quarterfinals fight (full story here).
However, the Irish Times notes that Nikitin originally suffered the injuries in his round of 32 fight.
This photo shows Nikitin with the cuts on his head before he began his fight with Conlan:
You can see the cut above the eye and on the side of the head during his round of 16 fight:
Maybe this development will validate Conlan’s belief that his fight with Nikitin was fixed. This plus the judges involved in the decision being sent home probably helps, along with AIBA’s executive director resigning.
Because Nikitin could not fight in the semis, he will share the bronze medal with the loser of the other semifinal match, Murodjon Akhmadaliev.
