Paddy Barnes has criticised Aiba's decision to get rid of headgear in amateur boxing following his quarter-final defeat at the World Championships in Almaty on Wednesday afternoon.

The Belfast boxer was beaten by Uzbekistan’s Jasurbek Latipov in an ill-tempered battle in which Barnes always looked to have been struggling after a clash of heads in the first round. Latipov eventually won 28-29, 27-30, 28-29.

Barnes was visibly furious afterwards and avoided interviews, but he later tweeted that his vision was blurred from the first round because of a clash of heads.

The official deducted points from both boxers for use of the head in the second round, but throughout the bout Barnes was complaining and occasionally looking to his corner.

“That’s it all over,” Barnes tweeted. “Was out on my feet in the 1st round and didn’t recover, blurred vision for 3 rds with head clashes! F**k your no headgear!”

He went on to criticise the decision of Aiba doctor, Ching-Kuo Wu, to abandon headgear for these championships.

“Fighting with no headgear is good, but to fight 6 times in 10 days without it is impossible, Dr Wu doesn’t care he isn’t the one fighting.”

Ireland coach Billy Walsh claimed afterwards that Latipov "drove his knee" into Barnes's head after the Irishman went to ground.

Walsh added that the skirmishes caused Barnes to lose his “plan” and suggested he may not even have been “compos mentis” at one stage of the fight.

Barnes was assessed my medical staff after the fight and treated for possible concussion.