RIO DE JANEIRO - The International Boxing Association has sent home a number of judges and referees involved in controversial decisions during the Rio Olympics. 

Suspect decisions are nothing new to the sport and safeguards are in place. Five officials, usually chosen just before the fight, judge each bout and a computer randomly selects the three scores that are counted.

And yet that hasn't prevented a series of eyebrow-raising results from transpiring. Michael Conlan's defeat to Russian Vladimir Nikitin drew plenty of attention because the Irishman gave the judges the finger after the decision was announced. 

But that's only the most high-profile example. Canadian fighters also feel victimized, including Arthur Biyarslanov, who lost a split decision to German Artem Harutyunyan in the 64-kg division on Sunday. TSN spoke to the 21-year-old outside the Athletes' Village on Wednesday evening. The following is a transcript of the conversation: 

TSN: What was your reaction when you heard the news that some judges were being sent home? 

AB: "I was happy, because from what we've seen from the fights there's been a lot of corruption and a lot of misjudging. It's good to hear that some of those judges were sent back."

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TSN: Is this something you anticipated happening before you arrived in Rio? Did it feel like you had to beat your opponent and the judges?  

AB: "Of course. I saw it in the 2008 Olympics, 2012 Olympics in some of the fights that I watched. Boxing is a sport that has always been, with the judging, there's always been problems with that so coming into the Olympics I already knew it was on my mind. 

"We train so hard to get here, we train for years and when a thing like this happens it just hurts, but there's nothing we can do about it."

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TSN: Do you feel like the fix was in during your loss against the German fighter? 

AB: "Well, yeah. I was fighting and I felt great. First and third round I was feeling really well. I had a good warm-up and in the ring I was feeling good. I was so confident that I won. 

"As soon as I heard the split decision, I was like, 'Oh, no,' because I thought I won unanimously. And they raised his hand and that night was terrible for me. I was so hurt. When I go to competitions I always go to win and not just participate and these Olympics I wanted to win and make history and bring the medal back to Canada after so many years. But, these things happen.

"I watched him (Harutyunyan) fight yesterday with the Turkish guy (Batuhan Gözgeç) and the same thing repeated. And, this guy, the guy me and the Turkish guy fought, the German guy, he's actually the APB (AIBA Pro Boxing) World Champion so, you know, from what I understand they want to push their athletes to the front, because they're part of APB and they get the edge. It was not fair and my fight is not the only one where this has happened. There's been many other fights and we've all seen it."

TSN: What did you think about Conlan giving the judges the finger? 

AB: "Well (smiles) when there's decisions like this we all feel angry, we're all mad, but some of us hold our emotions back and that's what I did. In my opinion, it's a good thing that he did that, because if he didn't do that the world wouldn't know what's happening and because he did that it just opened everyone's eyes and got a lot of attention. A lot of people are awake now and hopefully these things stop and boxing becomes a lot better."

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TSN: Do you feel like the Canadian Olympic Committee and Boxing Canada are supportive of you on this? 

AB: "I'm sure they're also mad, they've seen it to, but they really can't say anything bad or anything against it, because they're part of boxing and they don't want to lose their jobs. The reason why I'm saying this is I want to turn pro and I'm done with amateur boxing. I had a great career, I went to every big event I could go to. I always wanted to turn pro, because I always knew these things happen."

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TSN: How does this actually happen in a fight?

AB: "I can't say for sure, because I'm not involved in judging … It happens a lot of times that judges give the first two rounds to the guy who's actually losing and then the third round they give it to the other guy who deserves to win to make it look like, 'Oh, we gave you one round,' just to make it look like it was a fair call, but people who know about boxing and see the fights happening can tell who won and loss."

TSN: How can we fix this issue? 

AB: "People need to speak up. If no one speaks up, it will stay the same. The more people talk, the more it catches attention and brings fear to the people who are doing this. That's the only way it will change."

TSN: If the fix is in, who do you think is going to win your weight class? 

AB: "I already have an idea who's going to win, but I don't want to say it. I think, it's best I don't."

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AIBA put out the following statement on Tuesday in response to some of the allegations raised by Biyarslanov, Conlan and others: 

"With regard to corruption, we would like to strongly restate that unless tangible proof is put forward, not rumours, we will continue to use any means, including legal or disciplinary actions to protect our sport and its R&J community whose integrity is constantly put into question. The organization will not be deterred by subjective judgements made by discontented parties. We welcome all parties to come forward and provide evidence in order to take appropriate and immediate action."