Joe Ward

The Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA) have had  their protest against the result of tonight’s controversial Joe Ward versus Bahran Muzaffer light-heavyweight bout turned down.

Ward, the current European champion, was adjudged to have lost the last-16 contest 18-15 to the Turkish national in the final AIBA Olympic qualifier for European (male) boxers in Trabzon,
Turkey.

The IABA lodged a protest immediately after the bout but that protest was turned down by the Appeals Jury. The Appeals Jury ruled that no rules were broken and that the result stands.

Muzaffer, who was beaten 10-2 by eventual silver medalist Ken Egan in the last-16 of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, was 4-3 up after the first round against Ward and held a 12-11 advantage going into the third and final frame in which he was adjudged to have scored another six points.