Moroccan boxer disqualified at Tokyo 2020 after biting opponent’s ear
Bizarre scenes were witnessed at the Olympics on Tuesday when a Moroccan boxer tried to chomp down on his opponent’s ear. Youness Baalla was losing the fight to David Nyika on points. Trying to go all out to save his place in the Games, the Moroccan star took a page out of Mike Tyson’s playbook.
The 25-year-old New Zealander abruptly moved away from his opponent and complained to the fight official. Baalla, 22, was then disqualified from the fight after he lost the plot mid-fight.
“He almost lost the plot completely there. That could have been an act of absolute madness,” a commentator said.
The officials stated that the Moroccan heavyweight will exit the competition for his “intolerable action” as he “very clearly intended to bite the ear/face of his opponent”.
Nyika was left in disbelief to see what had happened. “Luckily he had his mouthguard in and I was a bit sweaty… But c’mon man this is the Olympics, get your s–t together,” he said after being declared the winner.
The New Zealander was all about respect after the fight. He took it to social media to ask his fans to stop hurling abuse at his Moroccan opponent.
“The heat of battle can bring the best AND the worst out of people. This is part of the sport. I have nothing but respect for my opponent and can appreciate the frustration he must have felt,” Nyika wrote in his Instagram stories.
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