Boxer Nishant Dev's devastating loss in the men's 71kg quarterfinal on Saturday broke the hearts of millions of Indians, many of who felt the pugilist was "robbed of" a victory despite being far superior to his Mexican opponent Marco Verde Alvarez.
The 23-year-old Indian boxer was leading in the first round thanks to his straight jabs which landed square on the Mexican's face, but Alvarez's lethal right hook on Nishant's face forced the referee to give the Indian a standing count in the second round.
The judges favoured the Mexican, which the social media felt was an unfair decision. Even boxer Vijender Singh expressed concerns about the decision. He took to X to vent his ire: "I don't know what's the scoring system, but I think very close fight..he played so well..koi na bhai #NishantDev."
Some Indians on X cried foul of the decision, accusing the judges of being biased. "These were the great blind judges out there!!! Someone tag these blind people!!" one user wrote, tagging Olympics.
"How can you ignore Nishant Dev’s dominant performance in the first two rounds? He completely outplayed his opponent." another user wrote.
#NishantDev loses to #Paris2024 judges but clearly a win over Marco Verde in men’s 71kg quarterfinal
— Gurpreet singh gill (@IGsgill) August 3, 2024
This is clearly a robbery Nishant. He gave it his all The match should have been over in the 2nd round itself.
This #ParisOlympics2024 is nothing more than a joke pic.twitter.com/bsDUdGcWaG
"NishantDev loses to Paris2024 judges but clearly a win over Marco Verde in men’s 71kg quarterfinal This is clearly a robbery. He gave it his all The match should have been over in the 2nd round itself. This #ParisOlympics2024 is nothing more than a joke", another X user voiced his angst.
However, many feel the comments are unwarranted as it was clear from the match that Nishant failed to sustain his dominant display in the first round for the next two. In the second round, he was constantly getting caught on the ropes.
The final round also saw Alvarez landing a combination of punches on Nishant. While Mexican showed more urgency as he landed an uppercut, Nishant was tired and looked completely spent and while he tried to throw punches he was slow.
While Nishant looked heartbroken by the results, the Mexican agreed that the bout was a tough one. "It was a tough bout, played with heart and mind. I hit on his body to open up for uppercuts. I lost to him in 2021 world Championships. I have a lot of respect for him," Alvarez said.
"He is a very technically sound boxer. My coaches asked me to play smart after I lost the first round," he added.
