By Tom Wood
An Olympic boxer has thrown an epic tantrum following a loss to a British athlete, shouting at the cameras and then staging a sit down protest in the ring for half and hour following the conclusion of his fight.
To be fair, you can see why he would be disappointed. Mourad Aliev - a super heavyweight representing France at the Tokyo games - was disqualified from his bout against Team GB fighter Frazer Clarke for excessive use of the head, which caused several cuts to his opponent.
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After being told the result of the fight, which saw Clarke qualify for the +91kg semi-final, Aliev left the ring initially, but then returned to sit on the ring apron for a full 30 minutes.
He feels that the disqualification was unfair, and claimed that he was not warned about the use of his head before he was booted from the competition.
An Olympic boxer has thrown an epic tantrum following a loss to a British athlete, shouting at the cameras and then staging a sit down protest in the ring for half and hour following the conclusion of his fight.
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To be fair, you can see why he would be disappointed. Mourad Aliev - a super heavyweight representing France at the Tokyo games - was disqualified from his bout against Team GB fighter Frazer Clarke for excessive use of the head, which caused several cuts to his opponent.
After being told the result of the fight, which saw Clarke qualify for the +91kg semi-final, Aliev left the ring initially, but then returned to sit on the ring apron for a full 30 minutes.
He feels that the disqualification was unfair, and claimed that he was not warned about the use of his head before he was booted from the competition.
Aliev claims that the fight referee didn't give him any prior warning before disqualifying him, adding: "I prepared for these Games for four years. I really wanted to fight against the injustice, so that was my way to show that I don't agree with that decision."
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Clarke admitted after the fight that he doesn't believe there was any malice in Aliev's game, but ultimately - and quite predictably - sided with the judges.
He said: "I'm not going to stand here and say he did it on purpose because I'm sure he wouldn't have wanted his Olympics to end in the way they have.
"I told him to calm down because I've been in those situations before. The last thing I want him to do is damage his reputation or be rude to the judges and officials, because they are only doing their job."
Clarke's guaranteed medal means that Team GB will equal their record of five medals at a games, set at London 2012.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: olympics, Boxing News, Tokyo Olympics, Boxing, Australia, Protest