India's Manoj Kumar bowed out of the Olympic Games in controversial manner after he went down to Britain's George Stalker in men's light welter weight (64) kg category at the ExCel Arena here today.
The 26-year-old Manoj Kumar fought well but appeared to be distinctly unlucky not to get points as the British boxer managed a 20-16 victory to move into the quarter finals.
Stalker won the first round 7-4 and maintained his lead by winning the second round 9-5. The Indian then launched an all out attack in the third and last round which he claimed 7-4 but some debatable judging ultimately saw him leave the arena disappointed.
The Indian camp understandably was furious with the decision and strongly felt that the Indian was at the receiving end of some dubious point calls.
Manoj felt that he should have been declared the winner and the Indians, who have already lodged two appeals so far, may contemplate doing so again.
"This is a district tournament, it's not an Olympic tournament. Cheating, cheating, cheating," a livid Manoj Kumar said after the bout.
Indian coach Blas Iglesias Fernandez said Manoj won the third round but he should have won the other two rounds as well as he fought in the same manner.
"The last round was 7-4 (to Kumar). Why no other rounds? All rounds were the same. It was very poor judging," he said.
On whether his boxer was 'robbed', he said "I think so."
"My athlete did extraordinary. You saw for yourself what happened. Why don't you write what you want?" Indian coach Gurbakhsh Singh Sandhu said.
Stalker said that he was happy with the result but felt he did not box as well as he could.
"All I wanted to do was fight. In my next bout I know I will do better. I felt sluggish after the first round. Being in my hotel for the last week hasn't done me any good," Stalker said.
"I just wanted to get the first fight out of the way. The fans got me through it," the boxer said.
"Being an Olympian is special. It was a tough fight and I felt I didn't really box too well but a win is a win," he said.
"I felt like I needed to move my feet a bit more. The last round was not good. I think I went a bit more negative in the last round when I could have been more positive," Stalker said.
On his opponent questioning the judges' decision, he said "I have had fights when I thought I had won by more than I eventually won by. I just leave it to the judges. I would like to thank everyone who supported me."
