Olympic Games heartbreak for Ward after countback defeat

THERE was enormous disappointment for star Moate boxer Joe Ward yesterday (Tuesday) when he was eliminated in heartbreaking fashion from the 2011 World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan. The 17 year-old, from Farnagh, Moate, lost to Iranian Ehsan Rouzbahani on a count back in the last 16 of the light-heavyweight division, having drawn the three-round bout 15-15. A win would have sent Ward into the quarter-finals of the World Championships and, almost as importantly, secured an automatic place at next year's Olympic Games in London. Ward had sealed his place in Tuesday's round of 16 by comfortably seeing off Abdurakhmonov Dilovasnoi, of Tajikistan, in last Sunday's last 32 contest. The reigning Irish and European light-heavyweight champion, who earlier this year famously beat Olympic medal winner Kenny Egan to claim the national title, still has one chance to make the Olympic Games, at a European qualification event in April in Istanbul, Turkey. However, Tuesday's defeat is sure to come as a major setback to the prized young fighter, who described his loss to national media sources as "devastating". The first round ended with Ward and his Iranian opponent on level terms, at 4-4, but thereafter it turned into a real battle in the second round, where Ward, who had never been beaten at senior level, was penalised two points by the referee, and trailed 12-8 going into the third round. Both boxers received public warnings for holding in the second and third rounds, by Uzbekistani referee Dahodir Jumaniyazov. Rouzbahani was 12-8 up going into the third round, which Ward won 7-3, to tie the bout at 15-15, but Rouzbahani was handed a ticket for the 2012 London Games on the oft-criticised count back system. Speaking afterwards, to the Irish Amateur Boxing Association website (www.iaba.ie), Ward said: "I'm really, really disappointed. I just can't believe I've been beaten. Four of the judges had me winning (in the last round), and one judge had me losing, and I lost on a count back. It's devastating. I wasn't stepping back as usual, counter punching. I don't know what really happened, what came over me." In relation to his public warning, Ward said: "That definitely destroyed the fight. I didn't deserve it. He was doing most the holding and pulling." No count back scores were available at time of going to print. Ward's elimination made him the fourth Irish boxer to lose at the World Championships in recent days, following defeats for Paddy Barnes, Kenny Egan and Ray Moylette. Ward, who will now have to refocus and concentrate on reaching the Olympics through the qualifying event in Turkey, has had a meteoric year in which he moved from junior to senior boxing, and beat Beijing Olympic medallist Kenny Egan in the light- heavyweight division at the National Championships, before going on to win European Championship gold during the summer. Ward undone by controversial countback system In amateur boxing, points are awarded for a scoring hit with the marked part of the glove on the opponent's head (side or front), or body (above the belt). A panel of five judges decides which hits are scoring hits. Judges each have two buttons before them, one for each boxer, and press the appropriate button when they believe a boxer delivers a scoring hit. An electronic scoring system registers a point whenever three or more judges press the button for one boxer (within a second of each other). No point is awarded for a hit unless three of the five judges agree. Amateur boxing's count back system has often been ridiculed. If, at the end of the contest the scores are equal, the scoring machine automatically recalculates, using all of the combined hits of each individual judge. At the end of the bout, when each judge's points have been totalled, the boxer awarded the most points, by a majority of the judges, is declared the winner.