Young fan has touching message for Irish boxer Michael Conlan

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Irish bantamweight boxer Michael Conlan lost a highly controversial decision to Russia’s Vladimir Nitinkin on Tuesday, a result that may lead to some changes in AIBA, the sport’s governing body.

While we wait for that, however, one of Conlan’s youngest fans had a sweet message and gift for the boxer.

Conlan posted this letter to his Twitter feed on Wednesday morning:

It reads, “Hi Michael. My name is Finn Mc Manus and I am five years old. I saw your fight in Rio and you should have won because you are the best boxer in the world. I want you to have my school medal because you are a winner. I hope you like it. From Finn.”

Conlan implied that he has something to give young Finn and at least one of Finn’s family members responded to Conlan’s tweet, but it’s not clear at the moment if the fighter has connected with the boy yet.

Though Conlan left Nitinkin bloodied and it was clear to many that he won the fight, the judges decided Nitinkin was the victor. That led Conlan to flip off the judges while he was still in the ring, and shortly after his loss, he gave a profanity-laced interview to network RTE.

“AIBA cheats, He f**king cheats. That’s me, I’ll never box for AIBA again, they’re cheating bastards, they’re paying everybody,” he said. “I don’t give a f**k for cursing on TV. That’s the end of my Olympic gold. My dream has been shattered now.

“I have a big career ahead of me. These ones are known for being cheats, they have always been cheats. Amateur boxing stinks from the core right to the top.

Conlan also charged Russia’s Vladimir Putin with buying the match in a tweet.