Olympics 2024 | Feeling robbed? Welcome to the boxing matches

New Delhi: For a sport that relies on a simple exchange of blows to decide the winner, boxing has an incredibly complex scoring system.

And every Olympics, the debate, the rage, and the incredulousness surrounding what exactly the judges are observing to decide the winner becomes louder, and more intense.

The latest case in point is India's Nishant Dev, who lost 1-4 to Mexico's Marco Verde Alvarez in the 71kg quarterfinal despite seemingly dominating the contest.

He isn't the first and if boxing's stakeholders continue to avoid introspection, he won't be the last or perhaps, he could be among the last in the Olympics at least. The sport's inclusion in the Los Angeles 2028 edition is not yet guaranteed and the opaque scoring system isn't helping the cause.

"These Olympics have been horrendous," declared Michael Conlan, the Irish superstar, whose famous expletive-laden tirade against judges after losing in the 2016 Rio quarterfinals is considered one of the most defining images of the state of the sport.

Conlan, who turned professional after being "robbed" in Rio, has commented on just one bout at the ongoing Games in Paris and by the look of it, his disgust for the amateur scoring system is intact.

In the Tokyo 2020 Games, it was the iconic M C Mary Kom, who left the ring perplexed when she lost a pre-quarterfinal bout despite actually leading in terms of rounds won.

"The worst part is that there is no review or protest. Honestly, I am sure the world must have seen, this is too much what they have done," she had told PTI at that time.

The Indian had trailed 4-1 in the opening round against Colombia's Ingrit Valencia.

In the next two rounds, Mary Kom got three of the five judges to rule in her favour but the overall scoreline was still in favour of Valencia. The Manipuri clinched the third round too but once again, it was 3-2 and not 4-1 which was what she needed to swing the final score in her favour.

"I don't know what's the scoring system but I think very close fight..he play so well..koi na bhai," posted Vijender Singh on 'X' after Nishant's loss last night.

It's a scathing indictment of the system given that Vijender is a three-time Olympian and India's only male boxer to have won a medal at the showpiece.

His comment reflects the sense of disbelief that a lot of scorecards prompt and it has never been not confusing for the average viewer ever since boxing became an Olympic sport back in 1904.

Here's a look at how amateur boxing's scoring system evolved, forced primarily by controversial results, and how it's judges lost credibility over the years.

1988, Seoul Olympics

Although the 1960 Rome Olympics saw a bunch of officials being asked to stand down by the International Olympic Committee after ruling a controversial bout, the "robbery" in the 1988 Seoul Games was what dented boxing's reputation more severely.

American Roy Jones Jr was taking on home favourite Park-Si-Hun in the 71kg gold medal bout. Despite landing 86 punches to the Korean's 32, Roy Jones watched his opponent's hand being raised as the victor.

He turned professional a year later and went on to become a world champion in four different weight categories but he could never get rid of the anger of losing that final.

"To see an opposition hand be raised by judges who were crooked, to have a wrong and injustice not being fixed...I earned a gold medal that night in Seoul in 1988," Jones said years later.

"I can never forget that feeling." Even the winner of that bout led a tormented life. Park often stated that he never thought he would be declared the winner, that he was as shocked as Jones when his hand was raised and that he wished he had not won.

"It wasn't his fault. He was as much a victim of circumstances as I was," Jones said of his rival.

Computer scoring comes in at 1992 Games

The world governing body for amateur boxing responded to the outcry with a change in the scoring system for the 1992 Barcelona Games.

This system seemed more transparent as each of the five judges had a keypad with red and blue buttons (representing the two opposite corners of the ring). They had to simply press the button for the corner, which they felt, had landed the scoring punch.

Three of the five judges had to be do it within a second for a boxer to score a point. From the look of it, the system seemed fine as all one had to do was land a clear scoring punch on the target area. And the scores were also displayed live to make it easier for a viewer to understand the proceedings.

But after a while complaints came in that the system made boxers more defensive after taking a comfortable lead, that they were only focussed on hitting straight and that there was no ring craft or diversity of punches to be seen.

Eventually, in 2011, it was decided that an average of three scores out of the five given by the judges panel would be considered for the final decision based on the similarity of points handed. The live display of scores was halted and outcome was shown only at the end of the round to add excitement.

In 2013, the International Boxing Association decided to go with the professional style 10-point scoring system in which a boxer, aside from clean punches, was also rated on his defensive prowess, his ability to control the ring and overall aggression, making the entire exercise highly subjective.

Michael Conlan lets it rip at 2016 Rio Olympics

It wasn't too long before this scoring system came under scrutiny but nobody quite expected things to boil over to such an extent that a boxer would tear apart the system while standing in front of its representatives.

Conlan did just that in Rio.

The judges were literally shamed by the then bantamweight world champion, who lost his quarterfinal despite monstrous domination that left his opponent incapable of competing in his next bout.

Conlan didn't hold back while leaving the ring, confronting the judges with an expletive-laden rant.

The AIBA, at that time, responded by suspending Conlan instead of acting on the issues he raised. The Irishman treated that suspension with disdain and turned professional.

In 2021, an investigation commissioned by AIBA itself "revealed a system for manipulating results at Rio 2016". In all, 36 judges were suspended but perhaps in a reflection of the scoring system's opaqueness, their names were never revealed.

Conlan stood vindicated.

"So wait... does this mean I get my medal now @Olympics," he had famously asked on X.

Nobody has been able to answer him to this day.