Iranian boxer Ehsan Rouzbahani apologized to the fans after being knocked out of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

In the men’s light heavyweight (81kg) class, in a closely fought contest, the sole Iranian boxer lost to Netherland’s Peter Mullenberg.

Mullenberg’s next opponent will be Teymur Mammadov, the Azeri Flagbearer who had a 17cm height advantage.

“I don’t understand what happened. I believe that the referees’ decisions went against me,” Rouzbahani told the reporters after the match.

“I did my best in the match against my rival. I apologized to the Iranians because I failed to advance to the next stages. I wanted to win a medal in Rio,” he added.

The boxing tournaments at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro are scheduled to take place from 6 to 21 August 2016 at the Pavilion 6 of Riocentro.