Team GB’s boxing team have been knocked off the podium in dramatic fashion.
By Monday night, four of our six fighter planes had already moved out.
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And if Lewis Richardson and Chantelle Read cannot arrest this downward trend, the £12million value invested in boxing for the Paris Olympic cycle will be seriously questioned.
The Briton’s three defeats were by split decisions – the verdicts against Delicious Orie and Rosie Eccles were controversial.
Mike Tyson became world champion in 1996, when Britain last missed out on an Olympics Boxing Medal.
Last time golden pair Galal Yafai and Lauren Price led the way, with GB winning six medals in Tokyo.
Nicola Adams won gold in Rio while Joe Joyce was stripped of the title in a disgraceful decision which later led to the IBA losing its job governing boxing for the IOC.
Adams, Luke Campbell and Anthony Joshua scored golden hat-tricks at London 2012.
But the path paved by amateur pioneers such as Audley Harrison, Amir Khan and James DeGale has been eroded.
It looks like performance director Rob McCracken is unlikely to continue in his position.
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From reality TV to ‘heir to the Klitschko throne’, how GB’s heavyweights fared after Delicious Orie’s Olympics exitBut it is not just British boxing that is desperate for reform – it is the entire amateur code of the sport that is desperate for reform.
If a replacement organisation cannot be found to run the event, boxing in Los Angeles could be postponed until 2028.
The IBA will be stripped of its recognition by the IOC in 2023.
This came after Professor Richard McLaren “Significant” and “large-scale” manipulation of the results of 77 Rio bouts supervised by the IBA was reported.
Umar Kremlev, a Russian friend of Vladimir Putin, was elected president in 2022 and promised a revolution.
But the sponsorship deal with Gazprom and throwing cash at unpaid positions has set alarm bells ringing.
Any talented boxer who saw the robbing that Joyce suffered in 2016 or the questionable tough decisions made in Paris could be forgiven for giving up on their Olympic dream.
Because even if Orie had won over Davit Chaloyan, he was certain to lose to Uzbekistan’s Bakhodir Jalolov – who is a professional with an undefeated record of 14 fights but is still allowed to win amateur bouts.
It is no surprise that British heavyweight sensation Moses Itauma, 19, and super-lightweight Adam Azeem, 22, ditched the vests and headguards to make a living from the sport.
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And yet the amateur sporting code – and the Olympics in particular – is considered the pinnacle of sport.
Joshua, Oleksandr Usyk and Vasyl Lomachenko will all tell you that their gold medals mean far more than every belt and pound note they’ve won.
Britain’s lack of success this week says more about the state of the sport than the state of our country.
What is more worrying than the disappointing medal count is the fact that young stars would be better off staying out of amateur boxing.
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Especially our women players, because the IOC has allowed two players to play along with the male players. DNA to fight in Paris.
Boxing’s toughest opponent right now is boxing itself.
The 26-year-old Olympic star grew up in England but cannot compete for Team GB and risks jail if she returns home
