Welsh boxer Rosie Eccles is out of the women’s 66kg after a surprise split-decision loss to Poland’s Aneta Rygielska.
Eccles was on the front foot throughout the three-round bout but after edging the first on the judges’ scorecards, she was deemed to be second best to Rygielska in the next two.
The Pole was deducted a point late in the third round for failing to keep her head up but, despite that, both judges who scored the fight even at 28-28 called it in favour of Rygielska.
Only one judge actually had Rygielska ahead on the scores, 29-27, while two gave it to Eccles, 30-26 and 29-27.
“I’m genuinely shocked, I’m stunned. That was a brutal outcome,” said BBC boxing pundit Steve Bunce.
“We’ve got independent judges here. They went with the one who got deducted a point and she actually fouled. The two judges who had it even voted for the woman who had an infringement. I’m really annoyed. It’s a bad decision.”
Eccles won gold for Wales at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022 in the women’s over 66kg-70kg (light middleweight) category.
