Team GB boxer Delicious Orie feels Olympic gold has been “taken away” from him after losing by split decision to Davit Chaloyan.
A cagey start in the men’s super-heavyweight category saw Chaloyan throw some good hooks, but Orie grew into the round and took control with some solid jabs.
A closer contest followed in the next round, where the Armenian put on a stronger display, but Orie continued to land well. Orie then threw some explosive punches in the final round, including a nice right hook to Chaolyan’s face.
Delicious Orie is one of Team GB’s boxing medal hopes
However, their Olympic hopes ended after losing 3-2 on points, meaning Great Britain have now lost all four of their matches so far and have just two boxers left in the Games.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Orie said. “I’m gutted. For the last eight years, I’ve dreamed of that Olympic gold medal and it’s been taken away from me.
“It could have been me, it could have been the judge, but in the end, that’s what happened. I feel like I’ve let myself and my family down.”
Is Orie enough for victory?
Orie is the most controversial way for a British boxer, after Rosie Eccles and Charley Davison lost by the same margin in their weight classes.
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Geraint Hughes has explained that Team GB’s Charley Davison and Rosie Eccles have controversial boxing exits at the Olympics.
Sky Sports News has asked Team GB to comment, with officials understandably furious with split-decisions involving Eccles and Davison over the first two days of competition.
“I’m not a judge, so I can’t tell you,” Orie said. “It’s enough for me to start saying it’s not fair or fair, whatever.
Orie felt it was enough to win the battle and reach the quarter finals
“You can argue the same with Rosie, you can argue the same with Charley, so I know I have to be strong and tough, but at the same time I don’t want to beat myself up.
“At the end of the day that’s the result, I just have to accept it with both hands and move on.”
Eccles and Davison also turned out for Team GB
Eccles broke down in tears on Sunday after her controversial loss to Poland’s Aneta Rygielska who said she was “absolutely shocked”. The Welsh boxer, who missed the Tokyo Olympics three years ago due to illness and injury, was eliminated by a 3-2 split decision that drew boos and jeers around the Paris North Arena.
Rosie Eccles went out early in the women’s 66kg competition
A boxer knows that he has won the fight,” Eccles said ringside when he momentarily fought again crying. “I know I have won the fight so I am really, really shocked. It feels like I’m dreaming, but it’s not a good one.”
Davison, who was defeated by a split decision on the opening day against former world champion Hatice Akbas, said: “I made a slow start and went up to the back but it was not enough. In the second and third round, I increased the pressure. and scored with some more shots? “
There are now only two Team GB boxers left at the Olympics. Middleweight Chantelle Reid faces Morcco’s Khadija Mardi – the 2023 world champion – on Wednesday, with light middleweight Lewis Richardson taking on Serbia’s Vakhid Abbasov in the last 16 later that evening.
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