Picture Credit: X
The 2023 World Championships bronze medallist and Indian Olympian, Nishant Dev on Tuesday, August 6 expressed disappointment after bowing out of the Paris Olympics 2024. The Indian boxer, who lost his men’s 71kg quarterfinal bout against Mexico’s Marco Verde at the ongoing Games, raised several eyebrows with a lot of pundits questioning the scoring system in boxing.
It is to be noted that the Indian pugilist dominated the first two bouts of his quarterfinal game against the second-seeded Mexican, but eventually was handed a defeat with the judges opting for a 4-1 ruling by split decision. This decision seemed to be proven bias towards the Indian on the part of the judges. Speaking days after his defeat, Nishant Dev recalled his past results against the Mexican and said, “I had defeated him (Alvarez) three years back and I was very confident in the fight. I can’t believe that I lost the fight. This feeling is killing me from inside.”
Dev urges IOC to “look in such decision”
The 23-year-old also questioned the scoring system, comparing it with the 2012 Olympics where the boxers got points for punches. Speaking in an interview with ANI, Dev said, “The point system is very bad. In the 2012 Olympics, the scoring was very clear that the boxer would get a point for hitting a punch. But after that the new 10-9 scoring came, I’m not happy with this as judges decide who will win the match.”
“No one can feel the sorrow of an athlete. The same happened with me in Italy when the result wasn’t in my favour despite the strong third round. I want the IOC to look into such decisions and make improvements,” he further added.
