Cameroon launch boxing protest

Protests over boxing decisions appear to be decreasing

Cameroon have lodged the first protest of the Olympic boxing competition, the International Amateur Boxing Association have reported.

AIBA Secretary General Loris Baker said the Cameroon team had filed a protest on behalf of their light-middleweight boxer Sakio Bika Mbah.

Mbah lost 8-5 on points to Canadian Scott MacIntosh in the first round.

Baker said: "Cameroon filed a protest against the referee because they felt that there had been too many cautions and no warning had been given, but the protest was denied.

"It was a matter of judgment and not a matter of rule."

Accusations

Despite the protest, and considering the controversies of past Olympic boxing events, the competition has so far passed without too many accusations of cheating or fixing.

Baker said no judges or referees had yet been dismissed because of their performance at the Sydney tournament, but a couple of them had been counselled.

"They were counselled because they were not punching the (computer scoring) button enough relative to the other judges in the contest, or he punched it too much relative to the other judges," he said.

The International Olympic Committee gave boxing a warning after the 1988 Seoul Games tournament was overshadowed by allegations of corruption.

Computer scoring replaced manual judging at the next Barcelona Olympics and is here to stay, said Baker.