Caboolture boxer eliminated from Olympics
- 11th August 2008
THE Australian boxing team suffered another body blow at the Beijing Olympics yesterday when highly fancied Caboolture fighter Todd Kidd was eliminated with barely a punch scoring a point from the judges.
The light-welterweight became the second Australian to fall at the first hurdle in as many fights when he was convincingly beaten, 23-2, by classy Moroccan Driss Moussaid.
Dubbed the 'Caboolture Kidd', Kidd was on the backfoot from the outset after copping a stinging cross to the head in the opening seconds.
He didn't score a point until late in the third and second last round.
The good news was he doubled his score in the fourth round.
The bad news was he only had one point heading into the final two-minute round.
It was another disappointment for the Australian team who arrived full of confidence of winning medals and perhaps even breaking their Olympic gold drought.
On Saturday, night the Australian campaign began disastrously when middleweight darkhorse Jarrod Fletcher, from Hervey Bay, succumbed 17-4 to fancied Cuban Emilio Correa Bayeaux in their first round showdown at the Beijing Workers' Gymnasium.
Australia has never won Olympic gold since the sport's modern Games debut in 1904.
Just five medals have been won in all - the last was light-welterweight silver 20 years ago by Grahame "Spike" Cheney.
Maroochydore featherweight Paul Fleming steps into the ring for his first Olympic fight this afternoon against experienced Frenchman Khedafi Djelkhir.
Djelkhir, 25, was a silver medallist at the European championships in 2004 and made it through to the second round of the Athens Games before losing to eventual bronze medallist Vitali Tajbert (Germany).
Meanwhile, Sunshine Coast rower Sonia Mills and her double scull partner Catriona Sens have to finish in the top two of their repechage heat this evening to make the six-boat final.
The Australians, who finished fourth in their heat on Saturday, have drawn lane one against the Czech Republic, United States and Ukraine.
On Saturday night, Kawana swimmer Samantha Hamill missed out on qualifying in the 400m individual medley final when she clocked 4:09.10, just outside her personal best.
The heats of the 17-year-old's pet event, the 200m butterfly, will be held tomorrow night.
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