LONDON: Damien Hooper of Australia rallied from a third-round deficit for a 13-11 victory over light heavyweight Marcus Browne yesterday, handing the US boxing team its first loss of the London Olympics.
Jordan’s first Olympic boxer, Ihab Almatbouli, also won his opening bout in the afternoon session at ExCel.
After both fighters started cautiously in the session’s final bout, Hooper picked up the pace in an entertaining third round to overwhelm Browne, hoping to build on the Americans’ 4-0 start in London.
Hooper is Australia’s best bet for its first boxing medal since 1988, but Browne gave him a scare.
“I didn’t listen to my corner (and) take it to him,” Browne said. “I did it for a little bit, but not the whole round. I had a one-point lead, and that’s really nothing. I definitely waited too long.”
Browne realized he was an underdog in his bout with the 20-year-old Hooper, a quarterfinalist at last year’s world championships and likely the best boxer on Australia’s 10-man team. Both fighters threw relatively few punches early, leaving Browne ahead just 6-5 heading into the third and final round.
That’s when Hooper picked it up, charging at Browne repeatedly and unloading combinations of punches. Browne got a standing-eight count after Hooper connected with a volley of blows midway through the round, although the last head shot appeared to be thrown while the referee was stepping between the fighters.
“He was getting dirty a lot, trying to push, trying to throw me around,” Browne said of Hooper. “No excuses, though. I lost.”
Hooper saw the third round in another light.
“I could see it in his eyes and his body language that he didn’t want to be there,” Hooper said. “I was down a point, so I was a bit desperate. ... I thought I would have been a lot sharper than that. I felt great, but he was an awesome fighter.”
Australia has struggled to win international medals despite usually having some of the largest teams at amateur boxing competitions because of its less taxing road through the Oceania qualifying section.
Hooper had an embarrassing public disagreement with Australia coach Don Abnett during training camp last month, briefly getting sent home and endangering his chances of winning the team’s first medal in 24 years — and maybe even its first-ever gold. Hooper also got sent home from the Commonwealth Games two years ago for misbehavior, but says he has been making progress with a sports psychologist in recent weeks.
He made headlines again at the opening ceremonies — but only because he held up a sign saying “I love you” to his grandmother, whose last name is tattooed on his neck.
Almatbouli looked sharp in a 19-7 win over Nigeria’s Lukwon Lawal, making history and thrilling the rowdy contingent of Jordanian athletes and supporters who sang and cheered for the light heavyweight. He is the only boxer among Jordan’s nine Olympic athletes.
Almatbouli is the second of five boxing brothers from Baqa’a, a large Palestinian refugee camp just outside Amman. He chased his Olympic dream through several years of international competition, even returning after he collapsed during the 2007 world championships.
“It’s a great honor to represent my country,” Almatbouli said through a translator. “It’s an incredible feeling, and God willing, I will progress into the next round. Hopefully I can be a role model. ... Even after the difficult life I have had, I never stopped sport. I always continued and kept preparing.”
Jeyvier Cintron, a 17-year-old Puerto Rican lightweight, livened up the early bouts both with his victory and his haircut. Sporting a robust mullet with seemingly random streaks of blond throughout, Cintron pounded out a 14-12 win over Botswana’s Oteng Oteng despite losing his headgear during a third-round exchange, giving fans another chance to appreciate his tonsorial technique.
