Canada's 'Chechen Wolf' bows out in boxing
Arthur Biyarslanov loses on points to German
By Justin Robertson, CBC Sports
The Canadian boxer known as the "Chechen Wolf" has been eliminated from the men's light welterweight tournament at the Rio Olympics.
Arthur Biyarslanov lost 2-0 on points to German fighter Artem Harutyunyana in the round of 16, knocking the 21-year old Torontonian out of medal contention.
- VIDEO: Biyarslanov falls to German
- RESULTS & SCHEDULE: Boxing at Rio 2016
- SCORECARD: Biyarslanov vs. Harutyunyana
Competing at his first Olympics, Biyarslanov started his round of 16 encounter sluggishly as his German opponent got off to a better start, landing early blows. The Canadian was rugged without being powerful and found himself behind in scoring after the first two rounds.
Harutyunyan, who looked focused from the opening bell, was busy and seemed to have the measure of the Canadian, hitting Biyarslanov with accurate and heavy shots consistently throughout the match.
As the fight was closing in on stoppage time in the final round, Biyarslanov — the only Canadian male boxer at the Olympics — needed to land a knockout punch to overcome his more elusive opponent but ran out of time and lost in a split decision.
Two of the judges scored it 29-28 for the German, while the third scored it a 28-28 draw.
Last year Biyarslanov took home gold at the Pan Am Games in Toronto, upsetting Yasniel Toledo of Cuba. He is also a three-time Canadian champion.
Earlier Sunday, two-time world boxing champion Ariane Fortin of St-Nicholas, Que., saw her quest for an Olympic medal quashed after a controversial split-decision loss to Kazakhstan's Dariga Shakimova in her first-round fight.
Shakimova, the two-time Asian champion, won the middleweight (69-75-kilogram) bout 2-1 on points by scores of 37-39, 38-38 and 39-17 at Riocentro Pavilion 6.
"I thought [Fortin] had the match. She was more precise, a little bit more active," Canadian head trainer Daniel Trepanier said. "But when we saw the decision was taking a long time and we saw them playing with their pencils in the corner, we started to get nervous.
"In the last round, she showed her superiority. But well, the judges decided otherwise … It was a judgment, they see the fights differently from us. In any case, they don't share the same opinion."