Judging has been fair, says boxing chief

BEIJING (Reuters) - The judging has been fair at the Olympic boxing competition and the sport is working hard to prove its integrity, International Boxing Association (AIBA) president Wu Ching-Kuo said on Monday.

Judging controversies are common at Olympics and several boxers and coaches have voiced criticism of the scoring here.

"We have demonstrated that the judging at this Olympics is fair," Wu told reporters after a meeting of AIBA's executive committee in Beijing.

"We've had over 200 bouts and only two protests so far, both of which have been turned down," he added. "Losers often complain but that has to do with a lack of sportsmanship. If they're unhappy with a decision, they must launch a protest."

U.S. welterweight Demetrius Andrade was the latest boxer to complain about the scoring after his quarter-final defeat on Sunday.

"I was landing a lot of punches but the judges were not giving them to me. It's tough for the kids back home who want to take up boxing because if they come to the Olympics to be treated like this, there's no point in coming at all," he said.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was so frustrated by boxing's scandals that it temporarily froze its payments to AIBA after the 2004 Olympics.

Change came in 2006 when AIBA president Anwar Chowdhry was ousted by Taiwan's Wu, who launched a bold set of reforms, notably changing the rules for assigning referees and judges.

"We must demonstrate to the world that this is the new AIBA and that we are clean, honest and transparent," Wu said on Monday. "Our aim is to protect the boxers and to make sure they are not harmed by manipulations or national interests."

Monday's executive committee also decided to propose the introduction of women's boxing at the 2012 Olympics and confirmed that men's bouts would be held over three, three-minute rounds instead of four, two-minute rounds from next year.

Wu said he was working on more reforms such as the introduction of a new electronic scoring matching which could be ready for next year's world championships in Milan.

AIBA also want younger judges and are considering "sudden death", an extra minute of boxing in case a bout is scored a draw, Wu added. In the current system countback is used, with the lowest and highest scores obtained by each boxer taken out.

Wu, who is working on plans to set up a professional boxing league which he hopes could materialize by 2012, said he was confident boxing's Olympic future was safe.

"We've heard a lot of good comments from the IOC," he said.

(Editing by Keith Weir)