Morocco cry foul after American wins bout

Add as a preferred source on Google

Sydney: Morocco angrily cried foul after flyweight Hicham Mesbahi lost to American Jose Navarro on points on Sunday in the first real scoring controversy to hit the Sydney Olympic boxing tournament.

Mesbahi flung himself to the canvas and pounded his fists in despair when the result was announced and Moroccan officials said the fighter had been robbed.

Mesbahi thought he had won the second round fight for a place in the quarter-finals and left the ring in tears, shaking his head in disbelief at the 12-9 score after he had started the final round 7-6 ahead. Navarro and his coach said he had clearly won.

"Our boxer led the fight, unfortunately the judges did not do their jobs," said Moroccan coach Mohammed Rais. "I don't know why they snatched this win from us."

Rais said he would speak with his federation head to see whether a protest could be made. Leading Moroccan official and International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) member Saadi Benhirane angrily told reporters that the result was "not normal".

He said he had been watching the fight on a television monitor. "They have robbed us of this victory," he said.

The controversy came a day after AIBA revealed that two judges had been spoken to about poor performances and had voiced concern about body shots not being scored.

A close fight

Navarro admitted the fight had been close but did not think the Moroccan had done enough to win. "I knew I was down by one point in the last round and I had no choice but to go out there and just throw.

"I feel I won the fight. It was very close. It's a win and I'm going to take it," he said. Head coach Tom Mustin had no doubt that Navarro had turned the fight around in the last round and said the Moroccan had held and pushed Navarro.

"I really think he won it. I knew the score was down going into the fourth and he did all the scoring in the fourth round so how can you not give the bout to him?"

The crowd reacted against the decision, booing Navarro as he danced around the ring with a miniature Mexican and American flag in each hand. Gary Toney, the president of USA Boxing, said he had noticed the crowd turning on his team.

"I think all one has to do is listen to the crowd. The answer is there. I don't know why we're being booed the way we are. It hurts me right here," he said with hand on heart.

"No one's done anything to create this. Jose won that bout, no doubt. He (the Moroccan) held, he pulled Jose's head down and the referee would caution Jose for having his head low."

Toney said he had noticed the crowd turning against the Americans "for a few days now" but had not said anything until Sunday when he said it was too obvious to ignore.

Navarro fights Jerome Thomas of France, who was a bemused winner over Drissa Tou of Burkina Faso. Thomas outclassed Tou in the second round after leading 17-2 but had no idea that he was that far ahead and was surprised to hear the bell.

Bulat Jumadilov, the 1996 Olympic silver medallist, reached the quarter-finals by beating Zambian Kennedy Kanyanta 12-9 and meets Armenian Vakhtang Darchinian next.

(c) Reuters Limited.