Aussie boxer robbed of medal in Commonwealth Games 'outrage'

Australian fans and commentators were left seething at the Commonwealth Games on Thursday when boxer Alex Winwood was dudded by a controversial referee decision.

Fighting in the quarter-finals against Patrick Chinyemba of Zambia, Winwood was winning the bout and was favoured on the judges' scorecards after the first round.

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But Chinyemba landed a big one-two early in the second round to send the Aussie crashing to the canvas and looking stunned.

Winwood returned to his feet almost immediately, but the referee inexplicably called the bout off and awarded Chinyemba the knockout victory after only counting to three.

Winwood looked at the referee in disbelief after being told the fight was over, with the controversial call robbing him of a place in the semi-finals and a guaranteed medal.

“Oh no, hang on - she has waved it away already,” commentator John Harker said on Channel 7.

“I find that impossible to believe. Absolutely impossible to believe.”

Aussie boxer Harry Garside added: “It’s heartbreaking for Alex.”

Harker said: “She didn’t give him a chance to get up, she was waving it away before he got to his feet. And look at the way he is walking, not a problem whatsoever.

“That fight should not have been stopped. I’m not saying he was going to go on and win, who knows? But that is not a stoppage. That's an outrage.

“… And look at him and see whether he walks forward, see whether he wants to continue, see whether he wants to continue, see whether his legs are clear."

Garside commented: “Yeah, no way known is that a stoppage. You got to give him time to get up and do the eight-count and then look into his eyes.”

Speaking after the fight, Winwood said: “I think it was a pretty fast call.

“There’s been a lot of quick stoppages in this tournament, but you know, I won the first round, and I felt like I won it quite clearly. And I wasn’t hurt previously. Nor was I punched quite significantly.

“I just really wanted to have a shot and prove for myself, after going down.

"I know what I’m made of, I wanted to show Australia and the world what Australians are made of, we have a dig and once I got up, that was the first thing on my mind.

"I was like ‘okay, I went down but here is for the Aussies, here is for the black fellas, we are going to show them what we are made of’.

“Obviously I didn’t get an opportunity to do that, but it is what it is.”

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Garside said Winwood's post-fight interview “gave me shivers”.

“It’s always sad after a decision like that,” he said.

“He wasn’t hurt. He did turn his back, so I do give the referee a bit of empathy there, but I think you’ve got to wait until the opponent gets up.

“Until Alex gets up and then give him eight seconds and look into his eyes and see where his legs are, if he is moving around. She waves it off way too prematurely.

“I’m a firm believer she did the wrong decision there. She could have given Alex eight seconds to recover, he looked fine.

"He was surprised. He was totally fine and you’ve got to look into the fighter’s eyes, that’s where you’ll see if he is dazed or rocked.

"It’s always in the eyes. She didn’t get a chance to do that.”

Fans were also fuming over the farcical scenes, taking to social media in outrage.

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