Murray beaten by home fighter by Ian McNeilly Aug 12th 2008

Bantamweight Joe Murray became Team GB's first casualty as he was beaten 17-7 by China's Gu Yu in the round of 32 match. Although Gu probably deserved the victory, the margin flattered the home fighter, who seemed to be greeted by rapturous praise by the home crowd every time he breathed in. After a terrible, scrappy opener characterised by holding and wrestling, Gu found himself 4-0 up. Murray had already appealed to the referee to quell the Chinaman's rough tactics. It seemed the American referee, James McNally, was a strong official as at the start of the second session he gave Gu a deserved public warning. But then he gave Murray the same, making the score 6-2 to the home fighter. A big, eye-catching right hand from Gu deservedly scored. Gu was the aggressor, lunging but landing and finished the round 9-3 up. It was already obvious that Murray, who wasn't boxing to the best of his ability anyway, would have to stop his opponent in order to progress any further in this tournament. Gu notched another point at the opening of the third round but then hit Murray with a right forearm, knocking him to the canvas. Instead of Gu being admonished for an illegal blow, Murray was given a standing eight count. A great right hand from the Manchester 21-year-old didn't score and Gu went 11-3 ahead. The same scenario was repeated and Gu finished the round 12-4 to the good. Presumably, Team GB Head Coach Terry Edwards told Murray to go for the knockout as it was the only way he was going to win and the Briton came out charging. Gu was content to run and hold. A hard left hook to the body hurt the Chinese but, once again, it didn't register. To sum matters up, a hard right hand from Murray just before the final bell didn't score but a tap from Gu did. After the end of round one, commentating for the BBC, Olympic bronze medallist Richie Woodhall said, "He (Murray) landed punches that weren't scored, let's get it right." Woodhall was correct - and it was a pattern that continued for the rest of the contest. The subjectivity of the scoring in this contest didn't seem to be equally distributed. Gu was probably a deserving winner but the manner and margin of the victory will leave a bitter taste in the mouth of all those associated with Team GB and John Murray.

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