The 2024 Paris Olympics has been fraught with controversies since the opening ceremony, with the judges’ scorecards for boxing matches becoming a particularly hot topic.

One of the most criticized decisions was the elimination of Great Britain’s Rosie Eccles, who lost in a split decision to Poland’s Aneta Rygielska.

Many spectators and experts felt Eccles was the clear winner, raising serious concerns about the accuracy and fairness of the judges’ scorecards.

Christine Lopez, the assistant coach of the USA Boxing Team, provided insight into the issue during an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports.

The North Paris Arena was filled with frustration and anger following the announcement of Eccles’ split decision loss. The crowd, along with numerous athletes and fans, voiced their support for Eccles, believing she had been unfairly treated. Despite the overwhelming support, the damage was done, and Eccles’ Olympic journey came to an abrupt and disappointing end. Similarly, the recent 3-2 split decision loss by Team USA’s Omari Jones to Uzbekistan’s Asadkhuja Muydinkhujaev in the semifinals has also been met with widespread criticism. The mental coach of Team USA Boxing, Jake Paul, went as far as to label the judges’ decision as “absolute robbery.”

Christine Lopez spoke about these controversial decisions just a day before Jones’ disputed loss to the Uzbek finalist. She acknowledged the controversy surrounding several decisions, including that of Rosie Eccles. “There have been some controversial decisions. Absolutely! One with GB’s Rosie Eccles. I talked to Rosie after, and she was obviously very distraught. She is such a beautiful soul, such a great fighter,” Lopez shared. Lopez also revealed that she had met Eccles multiple times at training camps and had come to admire her as an athlete and a person. Eccles was not only devastated for herself but also for her coaches and everyone who had invested countless hours and efforts into her training, only to see victory slip away.

Lopez further commented on the sacrifices made by athletes, noting, “You know the sacrifices that everybody makes besides the athlete. The athlete definitely leads a very sacrificial life, for it to be just taken from her. And the same with Roscoe Hill, you know, we definitely saw things differently in both those fights. At the end of the day, judges are human, they have their own opinions and their own feelings or things that they see or don’t see, and that’s really all that it is. I don’t know what else to say.”

Another controversial decision involved American boxer Roscoe Hill, who was eliminated after a narrow split decision loss to France’s Billal Bennama. The round-of-16 flyweight match ended with Bennama edging out a 3-2 victory, but many boxing fans and commentators believed that Hill had won the second and third rounds, which were not scored in his favor.

Christine Lopez highlighted the immense sacrifices that athletes make, pointing out the emotional and physical toll of training and competing at such a high level. Almost a month before the Olympics, Gennady Golovkin, the President of Kazakhstan’s Olympic committee and a former world champion, attended a competition in Milan where he observed technological advancements like AI, computerized scorekeeping, and review systems, which he believed could reduce corruption in sports. When asked about the recurring issues with scoring, Lopez responded, “I think until we get to AI, you know, we get the human emotion out of the judging, we’re gonna have times like this. And it is a travesty, it really is.”

Lopez also touched on the personal sacrifices athletes make, saying, “The long months away from home, the grueling hours of training, and the mental and physical challenges that these athletes go through, for it just to be taken away like that, is heartwrenching. You can’t help but be emotional when you see these things happen.”

What are your thoughts on the judges’ scorecards in the cases of Eccles, Hill, and Jones? Moreover, how do you feel about Coach Lopez’s remarks on the issue?