BOXING: The 2015 World Boxing Championships are over for the Australian team, with the last remaining fighter, light heavyweight Aaron Spagnolo, being eliminated in the second round.
Victorian Spagnolo, who had won his first bout, suffered a unanimous points loss to Croatia's Hrvoje Sep on night four of competition. The european boxer swept all three rounds on every judges card, finishing 30-27 ahead on each.
It ended a tough tournament for the nine-man Australian team, none of whom won more than a single bout.
Spagnolo and South Australian light welterweight David Biddle were the only team members to win a fight.
Adelaide welterweight David Biddle scored a unanimous points victory over Argentina's Ronan Sanchez in the first round, only to crash out to world No.2 Wuttichai Masuk from Thailand.
Two round one losses saw early exits for bantamweight Jayden Hansen who lost on points to Robenilson Jesus De Vieira and the well-fancied Victorian heavyweight Jason Whateley who went out to a split decision in favour of rugged German Roman Freiss.
NSW flyweight Joshua English lost to Ukrainian light-flyweight Dmytro Zamotaev, while the highly rated Daniel Lewis lost on points to Ireland's Michael O'Reilly in a high-quality contest.
Both boxers landed big shots in an even opening round but the surprising decision of the referee to give Lewis a standing count of eight swung the contest in the Irishman's favour on the judges' cards.
Both boxers appeared surprised at the referee's call with Lewis looking in little distress at the time, but he came racing out for the second round in determined fashion and dominated from the opening bell.
O'Reilly was struggling to cope with Lewis' powerful right hand but was given a huge reprieve late in the round when under severe pressure the referee stepped in once again, this time moving both fighters to neutral corners so he could remove a camera lens cap that had fallen into the ring.
The sound of the bell couldn't come quick enough for the Irishman but astonishingly the ringside judges gave the round to O'Reilly.
The decision was described by former Olympic bronze medallist David Price on commentary as staggering and left Lewis with a mountain to climb in the final round.
It proved to be an insurmountable one for the 21-year-old Sydney fighter who went on an all-out attack but left himself open to the counter attack and walked straight in to a big right hand from the Irishman late that sealed his fate.
Day three of competition proved to be a day to forget for Joseph Goodall, Joshua Keirl and Nathan Webber who all lost their fights.
Commonwealth Games super-heavyweight silver medallist Goodall struggled against the awkward style of Georgia's Mikheil Bakhtidze and lost all three rounds on the judges' scorecards.
It was a similar story for Keirl who was defeated by Britain's Joseph Cordina, with the Victorian having no answer to the quick hands and feet of the impressive Englishman in the lightweight division.
Webber put up a gallant display against another British fighter in Joshua Kelly and certainly had his moments in the final round of the welterweight contest and could feel a little unlucky to go out on an unanimous points decision.
Only the medallists from the championships qualify directly for next year's Olympic Games and qualification is no longer guaranteed through Oceania with the path to the Games now going through a hugely competitive Asian region.
Unlike previous years, where a quarter-final spot at the world championships guaranteed an Olympic berth, the path to Rio has been made even more difficult for Australian boxers by world governing body AIBA, who have demanded they now qualify through the highly competitive Asian division
It leaves Australia with the daunting prospect of not having a male fighter at an Olympics for the first time since 1920. The Australians will get another chance to make it to Rio 2016 through the Asian Championships.
AAP/AOC
