There was a shock at the Paris Nord Arena on another crushing day for Team GB’s boxers as the super-heavyweight hope Delicious Orie lost in the first round against Armenia’s Davit Chaloyan.
Orie had come to these Games suggesting it was “written” that he would win gold. Well, not here. Instead Chaloyan had other ideas in Paris. A gnarled, bulky figure, the Armenian started busily, lost the opening round, then took the final two, perhaps a little surprisingly, to win via split decision. Orie worked hard, seemed to throw more punches but was clipped enough times to take the narrow defeat.
It will be a huge disappointment for the Wolverhampton fighter, a smart, likable and highly rated figure, and for the entire boxing programme. Britain has a fine heritage in Olympic men’s super-heavyweight. Every contender at every Games had won a medal of some sort to date, scrolling back through Anthony Joshua, Audley Harrison and Joe Joyce.
The draw here has been a little tough generally. Chaloyan is a one‑time silver medallist at the amateur world championships. He carried Armenia’s flag at the opening ceremony. But Orie also beat him easily in the recent European championships, and came to these Games seeded No 2 and already talking up his own chances of following his hero Joshua into the professional ranks. It is an utterly devastating defeat.
Afterwards Orie said he had been unfortunate on the scoring. “It’s too soon for me to start saying it’s unfair or fair, whatever it is. I do think I was a little bit hard done by, it was very close and I felt like I just did enough.
“For the past eight years I’ve always dreamed about that gold medal at an Olympic Games and it’s been taken away from me. It could be from me, it could be from the judges but at the end of the day that’s what’s happened. I felt like I’ve let myself down, my family.”
After defeats for Rosie Eccles, Pat Brown and Charley Davison in the opening three days of the programme this represents a disastrous start for Team GB boxing, unparalleled in recent Olympic history. At least two of those judging decisions were open to question. But bad luck only takes you so far.
The super-heavyweights fought last here, coming out at close to 10pm. The Olympic boxing is being held at Paris Nord Arena, also known as the Villepinte exhibition centre, repurposed from a series of trade conference-style halls into a massive echoey sports hangar. It’s a perfect space, the low roof and cage of lighting rigs creating an echo chamber effect in front of a packed and fight-hungry crowd.
Chaloyan walked out first to loud Armenian roars. Orie came out bouncing and looking trim as a marathon runner. And he was straight in, working to the body, zipping back out of range, although worryingly he also took a huge red glove to the side of his head in the opening seconds. The judges gave Orie the round, despite the fact Chaloyan kept clipping away at the side of his head. There was also the disconcerting sight of the GB corner working at his face before round two.
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After that Orie’s best moments came on the jab in the next round, snapping Chaloyan’s head back, and leaving his opponent looking a little gassed on his stool at the bell. But Orie just didn’t do enough in the third round to make certain. Four of the five judges awarded it to the persevering Armenian.
As the referee announced the decision Chaloyan punched the air. Orie looked a little stunned, but shook hands with the opposition corner and the referee, hugged his opponent, and left to an unexpected turn in his own future career plans.
Orie, who was born in Moscow to a Russian mother and a Nigerian father, and spent the first seven years of his life in Russia, will now contemplate turning professional, confirming at the end that this was his last amateur fight. “I think I let a few eye-catching shots in,” he said with a shrug. “I didn’t think it was enough for him to win, but the judges clearly seen that so I’ll just have to take it on the chin and move on.”
The early part of the evening had brought drama of a different kind as Kosovo’s Donjeta Sadiku fought Angie Paola Valdes Pana of Colombia. The bout was refereed by a Kazakh, an interesting choice given Kazakhstan does not officially recognise Kosovo as a nation. A messy fight ended with a split points decision in favour of the Colombian. Sadiku stormed out of the arena with a towel over her head, too distraught to answer any questions.