What a painful Olympic Games debut for Cape Verde’s Africa welterweight champion Ivanusa Moreira.
Moreira, the face of women’s boxing in Cape Verde, was on her way to a resounding victory in her Olympic Games debut but it appears some judges conspired to deny her the win.
“It’s just unbelievable judges can be so unprofessional, I’m bitter and feel wasted,” Moreira told me in a telephone interview from Paris following her controversial defeat to Belgium’s Onisha Derieuw in a welterweight pre-quarters bout in the ongoing Olympic Games boxing tournament on August 1.
“We Africans are being robbed here, we win but judges deny us victory,” said a bitter Moreira.
“Me and Brigitte Mbabi from DRC won our fights only to see our opponents declared winners. We do not deserve this, it’s very sad.”
Moreira said even one of the world’s top professional boxers from Kazakhstan Gennady Golovkin aka Triple G, was not amused by the decision.
“Gennady told me that was a very good fight and he thought I was above my opponent on points but told me not to quit and admired my potential, he told he was very impressed with my performance.”
Moreira appealed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to take action on judges who are not living up to the Olympic ideals on fairness.
“I don’t know if it is intentional or not but it is a big coincidence that it happened to the two of us from Africa, and in so clear situation.
“I think sportive truth should be more important than anything in Olympics, that’s one of the Olympic principals.
I’ve seen my fight many times and nobody can convince me that I lost, I won clearly 1st and 2nd rounds, and 3rd was divided but I finished better, how could they give her the win?
“Even my opponent and her coach couldn’t believe it. It’s a shame for judges to be so unprofessional, it’s so painful for us boxers after preparing for a long time and using our own resources only to be victimised in the ring, I’ll never forget this day.”
DR Congo’s welterweight Brigitte Mbabi was the first victim of dubious officiating against Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng. She dominated the fight landing more shots than her opponent but the Thai boxer was given victory on a silver platter.
Credit: AFBC Communications
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