Zhang beats Egan to clinch gold

Zhang Xiaoping claimed China's second Olympic boxing gold by beating Ireland's Kenny Egan 11-7 in the light-heavyweight final on Sunday.

The 26-year-old led in every round although it seemed that the judges missed some of Egan's scoring punches.

The Irishman looked sluggish in the first round but came into the bout in the second, scoring but also allowing Zhang to counter-point.

Egan only trailed 7-5 going into the last round but could not close the gap.

After the bout, Ireland's head coach Billy Walsh criticised the standard of officiating, saying: "We don't have the best referees because we want to keep every continent happy.

"Kenny definitely landed three or four shots but the score didn't go up. For the Chinese crowd to take that away from him is very difficult.

"We have to get the best people here to give the boxers the best chance."

Egan was also puzzled by the judging but said that "a silver medal is better than nothing I suppose".

"I went into the fight thinking I would get gold," he said. "I have seen him box.

"I was not over confident but I thought I had enough to beat him. He had a great fight and boxed well.

"The fight was also going to be close and I suppose he had a hometown decision but he ended up with the gold and good luck to him.

"I remember him throwing a right to the body and it caught me on the elbow, the crowd went bananas so it was obviously a score for him.

"He did his best and it was obviously better than mine."

Michael Carruth, the 1992 welterweight champion, remains the only Irishman to have won an Olympic boxing gold medal.

RELATED INTERNET LINKS:
Beijing Boxing draws
Beijing 2008 - boxing
Irish Boxing
Guide to boxing - Wikipedia
Rules of Olympic boxing
Olympic boxing champions
Boxing tips - BBC Sport Academy
Have your say on boxing on 606
Boxing on the BBC Olympics Blog
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites