Inside Team GB’s boxing debacle in Paris, with fighters controversially beaten before iconic sport DISAPPEARS from Olympics

The TEAM GB boxing team were knocked off the podium in dramatic fashion.

By Monday night, FOUR of our six fighters were already out.

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And if Lewis Richardson and Chantelle Reid cannot halt the downward trend, the value of the £12m injected into boxing for the Paris Olympic cycle will be seriously questioned.

Three of the British defeats were split decisions – with the verdicts against Delicious Orie and Rosie Eccles controversial, to say the least.

Mike Tyson was world champion in 1996, the last time Britain was without an Olympics boxing medal.

Gold duo Galal Yafai and Lauren Price led last time out, with GB winning six medals in Tokyo.

Nicola Adams won gold in Rio, with Joe Joyce denied the title by scandalous judging that later cost the IBA its job of running boxing for the IOC.

There was a golden hat-trick at London 2012 through Adams, Luke Campbell and Anthony Joshua.

But the path paved by amateur pioneers like Audley Harrison, Amir Khan and James DeGale collapsed.

It seems unlikely that performance director Rob McCracken will remain at the helm.

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But it’s not British boxing that’s desperate for reform – it’s the sport’s entire amateur code.

Boxing could be suspended in 2028 in Los Angeles if a replacement body is not found to run the event.

The IBA lost IOC recognition in 2023.

This came after Professor Richard McLaren reported “significant” and “rampant” manipulation of results among 77 fights in Rio that the IBA oversaw.

Umar Kremlev, Vladimir Putin’s Russian friend, was elected president in 2022 and promised a revolution.

But a sponsorship deal with Gazprom and the release of money into the unpaid ranks raised alarm bells.

Any talented boxer who watched Joyce’s robbery in 2016 or the suspiciously harsh decisions in Paris could be forgiven for abandoning their own Olympic dream.

Because even if Orie had beaten Davit Chaloyan, he looked set to lose to Uzbekistan’s Bakhodir Jalolov – a professional with a 14-fight unbeaten record who is still allowed to clean up in amateur events.

It’s no surprise that British heavyweight sensation Moses Itauma, 19, and super lightweight Adam Azim, 22, ditched the brace and headgear to make a living from the sport.

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And yet the amateur code – and specifically the Olympics – is considered the pinnacle of the sport.

Joshua, Oleksandr Usyk and Vasyl Lomachenko will say their gold medals mean more than all the belts and pound notes deposited since then.

Britain’s lack of success this week seems to say more about the state of the sport than the form of our harvest.

Far more worrying than a disappointing medal haul is the feeling that younger stars may be better off outside of amateur boxing.

Mainly our women, as the IOC allowed two male athletes DNA fight in Paris.

The toughest opponent in boxing at the moment is himself.