Consequently, the operational responsibilities for the remainder of the Olympic boxing competition will now fall under the remit of the most senior vice-president of the AIBA Executive Board, Franco Falcinelli, President of the European Boxing Confederation.

"The Olympic Games, of which boxing has been a part since 1904, represent the pinnacle of all sports," AIBA said in a statement. 

"Since the beginning of Rio 2016, AIBA has conducted over 250 bouts and remains fully committed to fair play in boxing, always seeking to act in the boxers' utmost interests.

"The decisions taken emphasise that AIBA will not shy away from its responsibilities and will continue to ensure a level playing field and a fair and transparent sport. 

"It is of paramount importance to protect our sport and its R&J (referees and judging) community whose integrity has been put into question."

The uproar over judging started in the men's under 91 kilograms heavyweight final on Monday (August 15) when Russia's Evgeny Tishchenko was ruled the unanimous winner over Kazakhstan's Vassily Levit even though he appeared to be on the back foot for most of the contest.

In the final round, he fell to the canvas and required treatment for a cut after a barrage of punches.

His victory was greeted by loud boos from the crowd.

There was furious reaction from Ireland's world bantamweight champion Michael Conlan on Tuesday (August 16) following a similarly controversial quarter-final defeat to Vladimir Nikitin of Russia.

The Irishman appeared to have dominated the fight, leaving his opponent bloodied and bruised, but the judges gave Nikitin a unanimous victory.

Conlan afterwards gave an impassioned interview to Irish broadcaster RTE, in which he repeatedly swore and claimed amateur boxing "stinks from the core to the very top".

Nikitin was scheduled to take on the United States' Shakur Stevenson in the semi-finals today but pulled out yesterday "due to injuries sustained in his opening two wins". 

"AIBA is satisfied that we have improved significantly in our refereeing and judging but that we always know that there is room for improvement," the organisation's vice-president Tom Virgets told insidethegames on Tuesday (August 16).

AIBA said yesterday that it had reviewed all decisions in 239 bouts to date and found "less than a handful" of the decisions were not at the level expected.

Various rule-changes have been introduced this year to improve the spectacle and officiating of the sport.

This has included allowing professionals to compete, removing the headguard, scrapping the appeals process and changing the scoring system.

Five officials judge each bout and a computer randomly selects three whose scores are counted.

The winner of each round is awarded 10 points and the loser a lower number, based on a system taking into account the "quality of punches landed, effective aggression and tactical superiority".