China shine in boxing amid troubled bouts

By Patrick Vignal

BEIJING (Reuters) - The wild celebrations that followed China's first two boxing titles could not hide the fact the sport needs a few more rounds to become the respectable member of the Olympic family it aspires to be.

Light-flyweight Zou Shiming and light-heavyweight Zhang Xiaoping grabbed gold medals for the hosts to help shape them into a top boxing nation after two weeks of action marred by a strong dose of controversy over judging standards.

Boos from a small but raucous Irish contingent after Kenny Egan lost to Zhang on Sunday served as a reminder there had been constant criticism of the judging throughout the competition.

International Boxing Association (AIBA) president Wu Ching-kuo, who launched a bold set of reforms after being appointed in 2006, notably changing the rules for assigning referees and judges, acknowledged judging had been a problem.

"We have no doubt the refereeing and judging is clean, honest and transparent but we need higher standards," said Wu, adding he wanted to bring younger officials into the 2012 Games in London.

Wu faced another problem in Beijing when accusations from a technical delegate prompted the ruling body to reveal it was investigating possible attempts to manipulate the outcome of bouts by members of the organisation or competition officials.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was notified and provided an independent observer to oversee the competition in Beijing, which AIBA insisted had been fair.

Between meetings and news conferences in an effort to clear the air, Wu had time to witness the emergence of China and the rare sight of a Cuban team leaving Olympics without a title.

The superpowers of the sport, who had come to Beijing with their least-experienced squad in years after a string of defections, won eight medals but for the first time since the 1968 Games in Mexico they failed to land a gold.

"Our team is very young," said Cuban bantamweight Yankiel Leon, who lost to Mongolia's Badar-Uugan Enkhbat in the final.

"It's true that we haven't won a gold medal but I'm not aware of any problems with the team and I'm sure that in future competitions we'll be able to win many gold medals," he said.

AIBA president Wu also watched exciting new faces such as Ukraine's Vasyl Lomachenko, the featherweight champion who received the Val Barker trophy for the most outstanding boxer of the tournament.

The classy 20-year-old said, however, that he intended to turn professional "sooner or later", meaning he is unlikely to be around in 2012.

British coach Terry Edwards's pre-Games prediction that Britain could be the new Cuba did not quite materialise but his team did win a gold, by middleweight James DeGale, and will be ambitious on home soil in four years' time.

The Americans, still struggling to come to terms with the specificity of amateur boxing, will head to London on another mission to redeem themselves after winning just one bronze, by heavyweight Deontay Wilder, in their worst Olympic performance.