Olympics: U.S. boxer Williams feels judges beat him

By Brian Gomez, The Gazette, Colorado Springs

BEIJING — For eight minutes, Raynell Williams moved as fast as he could, punched as hard as possible, spent every ounce of energy in him.

When he had only seven points to show for it on the world’s biggest stage, his coach, Dan Campbell, sounded mad enough to knock somebody out.

The U.S. boxer dropped a 9-7 decision he thought he won Friday against France’s Khedafi Djelkhir in the second round of the 125-pound featherweight division at the Beijing Games.

One of four USA boxers to lose thus far, Williams, 19, claims he was unfairly judged in a sloppy bout dictated by Djelkhir, a two-time Olympian who set the tone with power punches and used his speed to his advantage.

“I threw a lot,” Williams said moments before he buried his face in a towel and broke down crying. “He was throwing, but he wasn’t hitting me as much as I was hitting him. It’s the judges. The judges saw otherwise.”

Campbell wasn’t nearly as diplomatic, taking issue with judges from China, Mongolia, Sweden, Syria and Trinidad and Tobago.

“I called back to the people in the tape room, and everybody said it was pure (garbage),” Campbell said. “I thought I was seeing things. He was landing three or four shots to one and wasn’t getting no points. That first round, we’re sitting there, staring at the monitors, watching him land, watching this kid’s head go back with two or three punches.

“I know the judges are not blind. They saw it, but for whatever reason, they decided not to push his button, and that was obvious. That was clear. There was no doubt about that.”

In amateur boxing, fights are decided by a new computerized scoring system, not by judges’ scorecards like in the professional ranks.

Five judges hold clickers — one for the red corner and one for the blue corner. For a point to register, three of five judges must press their clickers within a second of each other.

Djelkhir did more to impress than Williams after an even first round, winning all three points of the second for a 4-1 lead that turned into a 7-4 edge by the end of the third.

In the fourth, Campbell said, “We told (Williams) to punch harder. How much more can you do? He was hitting this guy with everything — body shots, head shots, hooks.”

“We’re talking about a lot of punches,” he added. “We’re not talking about one or two. That’s human error. We’re talking about at least eight possible points they didn’t score.”

Williams remains uncertain about a pro career, mystified by the loss.

“It’s very disappointing,” he said. “I wanted to bring home that gold medal. But I guess not.”