Beaten China boxer mocked by western press, called a hero at home after awkward ‘victory’ celebration
Lu Bin raised in arms in triumph when the announcement was made, but it was his opponent’s name that was called
China boxer Lu Bin was mocked by western media but hailed a hero at home after celebrating a “victory” despite losing a close decision to Kenya’s Peter Mungai Warui in a Olympic light flyweight bout.
The Guangzhou native was ridiculed in memes and YouTube after he was left confused, stunned and embarrassed by the judges’ decision in a third-round fight in which he felt he was robbed of victory.
The 21-year-old boxer posted on his Sina Weibo page that “the referee stole my dream”.
The Express in UK and the BBC were among the news outlets that mocked Lu.
Watch Lu Bin celebrate and then look around in shock
Lu was seen pumping his fist comically as the winner was about to be announced and then raised his arms in delight before his face dropped when Warui was named as the winner.
The Kenyan quickly went over to a still-dazed Lu and gave him a friendly hug before making matters worse by dancing to celebrate his win after a fight that could have gone either way.
However, in China an image of Lu kissing the canvas has gone viral with the hashtag #LuBinKissesTheRing and more than 100,000 users have shared the image originally posted by CCTV Sports presenter Watson Xuemin, according to reports.
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Also trending is the hashtag #LuBinSufferedControversialPenalty and many are posting memes that criticise the referee. Chinese fans say it is a “miscarriage of justice” and want the verdict overturned.
In the Rio Olympics official biography, Lu lists his hero as Filipino boxing star Manny Pacquiao. And his motto? “What goes around comes around”, so he’s clearly expecting to get his own back one day.
