A screenshot showing the weibo post of Lv Bin after his loss at Rio Olympics on August 9, 2016. [Photo: weibo.com]

"The judge has stolen my dream."

Chinese boxer Lv Bin made his desperate claim on his weibo account after competing in the men's light fly of the 49kg category preliminary boxing event at the Rio Olympics on August 8, 2016.

He put up a strong and heroic fight. In the first round, he dealt a heavy blow to his Kenyan opponent, Peter Mungai Warui, taking advantage of his weaknesses. He then powered into the second round, beating Warui into the corners with a batch of heavy punches. In the third and final round he almost had the Kenyan on his back.

He felt confident that he had won the game, punching the air with his fist, in anticipation of the announcement of the result.

But it was the Kenyan player's gloved-fist that was raised by the judge in victory. Lv froze in shock, his fist suspended in the air. He had lost!

Before leaving the ring, he got down on his knees and kissed the ground.

Leaving the ring, he burst into tears, covering his face with a towel to hide his distress from the cameras.

Lv Bin later told reporters in an interview that he would never give up and he would let his strength do the talking, not the judge.

Lv's experience is not unique.

Michael Conlan, Irish bantamweight world champion, also complained vociferously and profanely after he lost to Russia's Vladimir Nikitin in the quarterfinal of the men's bantamweight 56kg on August 16, accusing the International Boxing Association (AIBA) and Russia of bribery.

The judges' decision was unanimous but a large number of observers believed that Conlan should have won.

Russian heavyweight Evgeny Tishchenko's victory over Kazakh boxer Vassiliy Levit in the men's heavyweight also sparked a widespread public outcry over the decision, raising questions about the fairness of the judges' decisions.

On Wednesday, AIBA removed several boxing referees and judges from the Olympics after it determined that they were not competent enough to do the job, saying the referees and judges involved would no longer officiate at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

The federation declined to disclose the number of judges involved, their names, or the matches that perhaps may have been tainted.

The results of all bouts remain valid, according to AIBA.

In a statement, the federation said that its refereeing and judging committee had reviewed all 239 bouts from the first 11 days of the Olympic tournament. The committee determined that "less than a handful of the decisions were not at the level expected."