McFADDEN RAGES AT BEING ROBBED
DAYLIGHT robbery in a darkened film studio. And a decision so baffling that it ranks alongside the green light given to make Rocky V. Reece McFadden was right to be in a blind fury over his controversial, inexplicable semi-final loss to Northern Irish rival Brendan Irvine at Oxenford Studios yesterday. He was not alone. Boos rang out from neutrals, as well as Scotland fans and team-mates, as the five judges produced a shock split-decision that put Irvine into the flyweight gold-medal match against India’s Gaurav Solanki. For McFadden, the ‘disgusting’ verdict brought a second consecutive share of Commonwealth Games heartache. He walks away with a bronze, just as he did in Glasgow four years ago. And again he feels cheated out of his shot at gold. ‘See all the sacrifice you have made, it goes right in the bin,’ said McFadden, now likely to move into the paid ranks at 22. ‘Straight dumped right in the bin. Saying that is making me angry. This will never go away. It never went away in Glasgow. ‘Two bronze medals is great, but not to me. That maybe sounds nasty, as though it is nothing. It is great, I love it, but it is really not what I wanted. ‘I set my heart out for the gold and I really thought I had done enough to get at least the silver. ‘If I won that fight, I was getting the gold because I watched that Indian boy and I actually thought he got beat as well! ‘If I get beaten in a fight, I say well done. But I won that fight. Come on guys, you know if the other guy has beaten you.’ McFadden did not get the epic ending his performance deserved. He threw all the punches. Did not take more than two shots of any note himself. And should have been given a clean sweep on points. Yet only one of the judges gave him the nod. Two of the five wise men at ringside gave every single round to Irvine. ‘You can’t do anything,’ said McFadden. ‘It is up to them. They know what they are doing, don’t they?’ Fellow Scot John Docherty also had to settle for bronze as he lost to Cameroon’s Dieudonne Wilfried Seyi Ntsengue.