While Team Ireland performed brilliantly at this summer's Olympics, there is a sense that they could have come away with even more medals had one or two things gone their way in the boxing.
Both Daina Moorehouse and Aoife O'Rourke came out on the wrong end of questionable decision losses, with Moorehouse's defeat at the hands of French fighter Wassila Lkhadiri particularly controversial. The judging in that fight was an absolute farce, with the Irishwoman coming out on the wrong end of a decision despite dominating all three rounds of the bout.
It would later emerge that one of the judges from that fight would be stood down from the remainder of the games. Judging in the Olympics has long been a point of contention, something that came to the fore once again in Paris.
READ HERE: A Way Too Early Look Ahead To Team Ireland's Prospects At The 2028 Olympics
Walsh Suggests Solution After 'Scandalous' Boxing Judging At Olympics
Boxing is in real danger of not being included in the 2028 Olympics, with the IOC hesitant to include the sport on the back of various controversies in recent years. Judging has played a large part in that, with some believing that huge changes will be needed on that front moving forward
Speaking at a GreenTech HQ in Enniscorthy earlier this week, former Irish High Performance head coach Billy Walsh said that the use of AI in judging may be needed in order to ensure that the sport remains in the Olympics moving forward (h/t Enniscorthy Guardian):
Seriously, we are on the verge of not being in the 2028 Olympic games, so I could be home sooner than you think. Tokyo (in 2021) did a really good job of vetting all the judges, but this time I don’t know what happened. The judging was scandalous...
For me three years ago, I sat as part of a coaching commission and I saw AI and they showed us points being missed, hits on mark, being blocked, so it was able to tell us which punches hit and missed.
Things are advancing so we can get AI to catch the hits and stop the judging from being all over the place...
The criteria they have is like domination, how do you measure domination? It is a simple sport – if I hit you more than you hit me then I win the fight. That is how it should be.
The introduction of some sort of technology would certainly remove the more questionable elements of judging in boxing, with some of the decisions made at this summer's Olympics controversial to say the least.
You get the feeling that the IOC may well insist on such a move in order to rubber stamp the sport for inclusion for LA in 2028.
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