Aussie boxer 'robbed' of gold in Commonwealth Games controversy
Another boxing controversy has emerged from the Commonwealth Games, with Australian hopeful Callum Peters losing the final in a heartbreaking middleweight split decision.
Scotland's Sam Hickey was a gracious winner, with the pair sharing a fond embrace after what had otherwise been an entertaining bout.
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Fans in Australia though were left questioning judge No. 5 Mazlan Amzah after he was the only judge to score an otherwise dominant final round from Peters in favour of Hickey.
Hickey ultimately prevailed by the narrowest of split decisions, 29-28 x3, 28-29 x2.
What a final round from Callum Peters!
Will it be gold?#B2022 pic.twitter.com/NjZQcDqx4N— 7Sport (@7Sport) August 7, 2022
The bizarre final round score from Amzah overshadowed the contest, in which Hickey was also repeatedly warned for headbutting throughout.
Peters said after the fight that he would simply learn what he could from the contest and move on, though he did note his opponent's warnings.
“That last round, I thought I landed heaps more punches. This stuff happens. I thought there were a lot of headbutts throughout the rounds, he got about 16 warnings. Oh well. You learn from it,” Peters said.
“I don’t know what they (the judges) see but I just have to rewatch the fight and see how I went.
“It’s my first time fighting international, I’m young, 19, still learning. I can’t wait to get back in there again.”
Fans on social media lit up about the result after the 19-year-old came agonisingly short of a gold medal.
Callum Peters narrowly misses out on gold in the men's middleweight final, losing a points decision to Scotland's Sam Hickey.
I don't know about that one...#B2022 #CommonwealthGames— Lachlan McKirdy (@LMcKirdy7) August 7, 2022
Fair play to Sam Hickey, very tough Scot, but Callum Peters just burgled of gold there. One point the difference in the end, Peters absolutely dominant in that final round and one of the five judges gives it to the Hickey. Boxing delivers again #CommonwealthGames
— Phil Lutton (@phillutton78) August 7, 2022
Sorry, WTF?
Callum Peters robbed in that boxing final. Absolutely robbed. That is mind-boggling.#B2022— Alex Conrad (@alexhconrad) August 7, 2022
🇦🇺AUS Callum Peters settles for silver. Could not get closer to a gold medal! A terrific final. Comm Games are his first senior tournament, he has a huge future to come! #Boxing #OzBoxing #Birmingham2022
— Adam Santarossa (@adamsantarossa) August 7, 2022
Aussie boxer robbed in another Commonwealth Games controversy
It wasn't the first time in Birmingham that an Aussie hopeful has been hard done by on the judges' cards, with Alex Winwood cruelly deprived last week.
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.
Chinyemba landed a big one-two early in the second round though, sending 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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