Ring masters losing grip

Turkmenistan referee sent home after mismanaging fight; Iran boxer alleges fixing

After four fairly orderly days at the Olympics,the boxing tournament had an eventful night. An Iranian heavyweight received a curious disqualification,authorities overturned a Japanese boxer8217;s strange loss to a bantamweight from Azerbaijan.

Iran8217;s Ali Mazaheri left the ring without shaking hands and later cried conspiracy after a German referee disqualified him from his bout with Cuba8217;s Jose Larduet,apparently for an accumulation of holding fouls. Japan8217;s Satoshi Shimizu then filed a protest after he lost a 22-17 decision to second-seeded Magomed Abdulhamidov despite sending him to the canvas six times in the third round in what appeared to be an exhausted fighter8217;s attempt to maintain a narrow lead. Amateur boxing8217;s governing body overturned the result late Wednesday night,allowing Shimizu to advance.

Mazaheri and Shimizu both felt they had ample reason to be angry. Mazaheri was warned three times in the first round about holding Larduet,including an egregious instance in which he appeared to pull Larduet toward him while falling backward. But referee Frank Scharmach8217;s decision to disqualify Mazaheri in the second round seemed awfully quick to the crowd,which responded with jeers and chants of 8220;Ali! Ali!8221;

8220;It was a fix,8221; Mazaheri said through a translator. 8220;I could have got a bronze easily if it hadn8217;t been for that. In my previous fights,I had done really well. It was a setup.8221; Mazaheri stood with his arms outstretched after the disqualification while boos rained down. He congratulated Larduet8217;s coaches and climbed through the ropes without waiting for the official decision,refusing to interact with Scharmach.

Shimizu filed a protest of the London Olympics after Abdulhamidov barely made it to the bell despite six falls to the canvas,often with little help from Shimizu. Abdulhamidov needed help out of the ring after the final round,while Shimizu stood with his arms on the ropes in disbelief. 8220;I was shocked about the final scores,8221; Shimizu said. 8220;He fell down so many times. Why didn8217;t I win? I don8217;t understand. I don8217;t know what to do about that.8221;

Japan8217;s team leader also was furious about Turkmenistani referee Ishanguly Meretnyyazov helping Abdulhamidov with his headgear during the final round,further delaying the bout8217;s resumption and allowing the fighter to recover. AIBA said the referee should have been required to stop the contest after three knockdowns,overturning the result and sending Shimizu into the quarterfinals against Algeria8217;s Mohamed Ouahadi.

AIBA sanctions referee

AIBA,released a statement saying referee Ishanguly Meretnyyazov is on his way back home. The federation also suspended German referee Frank Scharmach five days for his decision to disqualify an Iranian heavyweight,and expelled technical official Aghajan Abiyev of Azerbaijan. I deeply regret that we had to take these decisions, AIBA President C.K. Wu said.