Morocco boxer, Youness Baalla, channeled his inner Mike Tyson as he shockingly attempts to bite New Zealander David Nyika’s ear during their heavyweight fight.
Baalla somehow avoided being disqualified, with the referee appearing to miss the incident but was eliminated anyway as Nyika claims the victory.
The shameful actions from a visibly frustrated Youness Baalla was reminiscent of Mike Tyson’s infamous bite of Evander Holyfield in their blockbuster heavyweight rematch back in 1997.
Two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Nyika overcame that incident to keep his composure and picked up the win on his Olympics debut.
Baalla cut a clearly frustrated man after being convincingly beaten in the opening two rounds and snapped in a moment of madness in the final round as he tries to dig his teeth into his opponent’s ear.
Nyika protested to the referee but Baalla somehow escaped any punishment before going on to drop a unanimous points loss.
“I’ve always backed myself and backed the people around me to lift me up,” Nyika said after the fight. “I know I am capable of great things. I have every intention to be towards the top of that podium.”
Meanwhile, heavyweight boxing world champion Muslim Gadzhimagomedov’s bid to add Olympic gold to his resume got off to a convincing start on Tuesday.
Competing in Tokyo as a representative of the Russian Olympic Committee because the country was stripped of its flag and anthem for doping offences, Gadzhimagomedov is odds-on favourite to add the Tokyo gold to his 2019 world title.
He took a few seconds to gauge his veteran Algerian opponent Abdelhafid Benchabla but then produced a dominant performance.
Gadzhimagomedov’s heavy combination punches left Benchabla in trouble and a right hook from the Russian forced the 34-year-old to drop on his knee and face the standing eight count from the referee.
Britain’s Pat McCormack, the top seed in men’s welterweight, also had a comfortable outing against Aliaksandr Radzionau of Belarus and advanced to the quarter-finals with a 5-0 win.
McCormack, whose twin brother Luke has also reached the last-eight stage in the lightweight division, will next meet Bobo-Usmon Baturov.
“I saw him just win the first round. He is a good fighter but if I’m on my game then I will beat him,” said McCormack, who will turn professional after the Games.
“I felt like it was comfortable today. It was a little bit messy at times but I won easy. I’m happy being top seed. I always reach my seeding in tournaments so hopefully, I will reach it in this one and bring that gold medal home.”
Turkey’s reigning welterweight world champion and top seed Busenaz Surmeneli was too strong for Karolina Koszewska of Poland during her 5-0 win.
Taiwan’s Chen Nien-Chin, who won the welterweight world title in 2018, also advanced after a 3-2 win over Italy’s Angela Carini in the final bout of the day’s opening session.