In a competition marred by bad judging, AIBA face more questions in the wake of the closing ceremony after Joe Joyce wasn’t given a single round by a Turkish judge despite seemingly throwing more punches throughout against Yoka.
Despite sending home judges and referees plus reassigning the Executive Director, a mind-boggling decision brought the curtain down on a boxing tournament that has firmly left a bad taste in the mouth.
Defeats for Ireland’s Katie Taylor and Michael Conlan were only the tip of the iceberg as plenty of other boxers had claims for victory – but none more so than talented 30 year-old Joyce from Great Britain.
The first round was clear to Joyce, whilst Yoka came back in the second, although two of the three judges had the Londoner needing a stoppage when it seemed for all the world that he was at the very least level.
In the final round of the three, Joyce was told by his corner he needed a knockout and went for broke to clearly take the round, having rocked Yoka on more than one occasion.
How the Turkish official failed to score that round for Joyce needs to be looked into as Yoka celebrated the win with his fiancé Esetelle Mossely, who also won gold in the women’s lightweight final over the weekend.
