Moroccan boxer attempts to bite opponent’s ear at Tokyo Olympics

Moroccan boxer Youness Baalla made an attempt to bite his New Zealand opponent David Nyika in a round of 16 heavyweight clash at the Tokyo Olympics games on Tuesday.

Baalla’s action drew similarities with that of Mike Tyson who chomped on Evander Holyfield’s ear in their 1997 rematch.

Nyika dominated Baalla from start to finish, and is now just one fight away from sealing his nation’s first Olympic medal in the sport since 1992.

And in the final round, Baalla appeared to attempt to bite his rival’s ear, but wasn’t punished for the infraction.

Baalla received a massive backlash on social media following the incident, with hundreds of nasty Instagram messages sent to him following the incident.

“He didn’t get a full mouthful,” Nyika told One News after the event.

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“Luckily he had his mouthguard in, and I was a bit sweaty.

“But come on man, this is the Olympics, get your s*** together.”

Nyika’s feeling about the situation appeared to cool as time went on, and he implored fans to stop sending abusive messages to his opponent.

“The heat of battle can bring the best and the worst out of people,” he said in Instagram post, in which he tagged the New Zealand Olympic team, following the event.

“This is part of sport, I have nothing but respect for my opponent and can appreciate the frustration he must have felt.

“Please don’t reach out to him if you have nothing nice to say.”

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