Irish boxer lashes out at judges

Irish bantamweight Michael Conlan has blasted Olympic boxing body AIBA as corrupt in an expletive-laden rant at the judging.

After losing to Russia's Vladimir Nikitin in the quarter-finals, Conlan said he was robbed of a rightful win, and vowed never to fight again in any AIBA-organised competition.

The world champion also accused Russia of influencing judges.

"AIBA are just corrupt. They've robbed me of my Olympic dream," he told reporters after losing on points in a unanimous decision that seemed at odds with what they had witnessed.

"Obviously Russia can't dope this time so they are obviously paying the judges a lot more," he added.

"I will never box an AIBA competition again. Not APB, not WSB, not world championships or Olympic Games. Corruption runs deep... I just think they are rotten to the core."

An AIBA spokesman said Conlan was a champion who came to Rio with high expectations and was understandably disappointed to have lost.

"Afterwards, it's his personal judgement," he said. "All I can say is that AIBA is striving for a fair, level playing field."