Aussie coach baffled by boxing 'no-show'

LONDON (AFP) –

A picture taken on July 30, 2012 shows Australia’s Damien Hooper (R) at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Australia boxing coach Don Abnett admitted light-heavyweight Hooper ‘did not show up’ in his opening Olympic bout with Russian Egor Mekhontcev.

Australia boxing coach Don Abnett admitted light-heavyweight Damien Hooper ‘did not show up’ in his opening Olympic bout with Russian Egor Mekhontcev on Saturday.

Hooper, 20, was beaten 19-11 on points after being given a standing count in the third round and Abnett believes the Olympic occasion may have got to him at the ExCeL Arena in London.

“Damien didn’t show up today,” Abnett said. “Damien is like that. It’s just the pressure of here and the boy’s reputation affected him.

“He just didn’t land the blows. He got caught at mid-range and didn’t use his leg movements I wanted him to. He had to go for it in the last round.”

Mekhontcev, 27, was always in control of the fight, winning the first two rounds 4-2 and 6-3 before sealing a 19-11 points win with a strong finish.

The presence of Jordanian royalty could not inspire light-heavyweight Ihab Almatbouli, who was crushed 25-8 by top seed Julio la Cruz Peraza.

Jordan’s Prince Faisal al-Hussein and Princess Zeina Rashed were in the crowd to cheer on Almatbouli, but he was outclassed by the classy Cuban.

Peraza will face Brazil’s Yamaguchi Falcao Florentino, who beat China’s Meng Fanlong on a countback after the fight ended 17-17.

China’s defending Olympic light-flyweight champion Zou Shiming got off to an impressive start when he out-pointed Cuban Yosbany Veitia Soto 14-11.

The 2008 Olympic gold medallist seemed to win the opening two rounds by more than the 4-3 margins the scoring system came up with, but he forced a standing count in the final round before running out a 14-11 victor.

Zou will face Birzhan Zhakypov in Wednesday’s quarter-final after the Kazakhstan boxer narrowly defeated Filipino Mark Barriga 17-16.

Barriga, 19, was given two warnings in the final round, costing him four points, which proved crucial in the final outcome. Zhakypov was also given a warning in the third, during which there was more wrestling than boxing.

Ireland’s Paddy Barnes, the 2008 Olympic bronze medallist who lost to Zou in Beijing, is refusing to look ahead to the possibility of meeting the Chinese boxer in the semi-finals after his 15-10 points win over Cameroon’s Thomas Essomba.

To get to Zou, Barnes must get past India’s 20-year-old Devendro Singh Laishram in the quarter-finals.

“I don’t want to think about who I might fight in the semi-finals because I could lose my next fight if I do that,” he said.

“It got me eased into the competition and I’m just glad I’ve got the first one out of the way. It’s been desperate waiting for my first bout.”

Barnes, 25, from Belfast, was a lot stronger than Essomba and hurt his opponent in the opening round. Despite scores of 5-3 and 6-4, Barnes was well in control going into the third round.

There was never likely to be any controversy in Laishram’s convincing 16-11 win over the light-flyweight fourth seed Serdamba Purevdorj, from Mongolia.