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Boxer left in tears after coach's brutal call at Commonwealth Games

sam goodwin
Sports Editor
·4-min read
Nicole Clyde, pictured here in tears after her coach threw in the towel at the Commonwealth Games.
Nicole Clyde was reduced to tears after her coach threw in the towel at the Commonwealth Games. Image: Channel 7

Young Northern Irish boxer Nicole Clyde was left in tears in heartbreaking scenes at the Commonwealth Games on Wednesday.

Fighting in the 45-48kg division in Birmingham, the 19-year-old was pummelled by opponent Nitu Ghangas throughout the first two rounds.

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Clyde wore a number of brutal head and body shots from her Indian rival, but soldiered on in a brave display of competitiveness and toughness.

The teenager was reduced to tears as she sat in her corner after the first round, but managed to fight on and lasted until the end of the second.

But it was then that her coach made the heartbreaking call to throw in the towel and save his fighter from more punishment.

Nitu Ghangas, pictured here celebrating after defeating Nicole Clyde at the Commonwealth Games.
Nitu Ghangas celebrates after defeating Nicole Clyde at the Commonwealth Games. (Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)

Clyde again broke down in tears as her coach told her he wouldn't let her keep going, a call that commentators deemed to be the correct one.

“They’re doing the right thing,” one commentator said on Channel 7.

“They’re doing absolutely the right thing.

“We didn’t need to see another three minutes like that one.”

Another commentator said of Clyde: “She’s got a big heart.

“She’s been battered here and she’s still trying to take the fight to her opponent.

“It was no disgrace, she was just up against a more classy and skilful opponent.”

Kaye Scott dancing towards boxing medal at Games

Meanwhile, Australia's 38-year-old Kaye Scott ran rings around 26-year-old opponent Zainab Keita of Sierra Lione to reach the light-middleweight semi-finals.

"I'm an old girl - but I'm still beating all the young ones and getting the top spot so it's another kind of stereotype I'm trying to break," Scott told AAP after conclusively winning every one of the three rounds on each of the five judges' cards in the quarter-final.

"People are saying you're at the end of the career, you're washed up - but though this might be my last amateur tournament, I'll keep going and if I keep performing, I might be keen to move to the pros."

At the Gold Coast Games four years ago she won welterweight bronze.

After two years when she felt she'd been largely inactive because the Covid pandemic decimated international competition, Scott looks fresh and sharp in Birmingham.

Kaye Scott, pictured here celebrating victory as Zainab Keita at the Commonwealth Games.
Kaye Scott celebrates victory as Zainab Keita at the Commonwealth Games. (Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)

An impressive dancer in her high school years and with a degree in human movement from the University of Technology in Sydney, Scott's ringcraft is her forte, and she'll need it when she faces Mozambique's world championship silver medallist Alcinda Panguane in Saturday's semi-final.

"It's a real deep driver inside me to win this title - I want it a lot and I'm going to show that on Saturday," she said.

"I've fought for Australian women's boxing from the beginning - you don't always get the fairytale you want, but it would be amazing for me."

Another bronze is guaranteed for Scott, as well as two more of her teammates after Caitlin Parker earned a straightforward unanimous decision over Kenyan Elizabeth Andiego to make the middleweight semis.

Callum Peters also announced himself in the equivalent men's event after stopping Guyana's Desmond Amsterdam in the second round of their quarter-final bout.

with AAP

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