Boxing: Mismatch a blow to US boxing pride

By PETER JESSUP

Nothing's changed with Felix Savon. The Cuban heavyweight is not about to defect to the West, turn pro, or speak to the capitalist media. And he can still flatten anyone in the amateur ranks.

On Tuesday Savon made no contest of his much-hyped bout with United States boxing captain Michael Bennett, first out-pointing him then going toe-to-toe to prove he could when he wanted.

The referee stopped the four-round contest after three, and Bennett had no complaints. Savon was 23-8 ahead.

The only man now standing between Savon and his dream of a third Olympic gold is Uzbekistani Rusian Chagaev, who has beaten the Cuban two times out of three. Chagaev was to fight overnight for a place against Savon in the gold-silver bout.

The only other boxer to win three golds was Savon's countryman, Teofilo Stevenson, at Munich, Moscow and Montreal. This is Savon's last chance to match that achievement because Olympic rules restrict competition to those under age 35 and he will be 37 by 2004.

The Savon-Bennett bout had been eagerly anticipated since last year when the Cuban walked away from the American at the world championships in Houston. He refused to enter the ring for the heavyweight final in protest at decisions that went against other Cuban fighters.

Tuesday was catch-up and the six-time world champion, dethroned by default, entered as if he knew it was no contest. Bennett came in head down and focused, Savon was light and flighty, shadow-boxing his way into the stadium, going over the top of the ropes as is his superstition, and waltzing around it.

Bennett felt he had to respond and air-punched his way over to Savon's corner, but the way he did it showed more bravado than confidence.

The 29-year-old from Chicago, who did time for armed robbery, took the fight to Savon but didn't press home when he was inside Savon's reach advantage. The Cuban, 198cm to Bennett's 183cm, kept landing with his longer reach and by the end of round one was 7-2 up.

Halfway through round two, Savon decided he was far enough ahead on points to take risks and to prove points. He dropped his hands to his side, and Bennett could not help but come in. When he did, Savon let fly a flurry of punches that sent the American backwards and lifted his advantage to 17-6.

At the start of round three Bennett came out tentatively, thus blowing his last chance. Savon clocked him a few more times and at the end of the third two-minute session the score was 23-8, the American had no hope and the fight was stopped.

The crowd booed. Savon responded with a dance around the ring throwing punches at all four crowd banks, then danced over the ropes and away not to be seen again. He has spoken only to Cuban media since arriving in Sydney.

His team's only comment was that Savon was never worried by Bennett, only by Chagaev, and that the Americans always played up their odds but the Cubans always beat them.

For a man who was promised multi-million dollar contracts to go pro the day after he KO'd Savon, Bennett was remarkably cool afterwards.

"I tried to go out there and execute things I had been working on, but he is a great warrior. I'm not ashamed because I did my amateur and professional best. I gave it 102 per cent, I'm happy."

Savon did not speak a word to him, Bennett said, but gave him a Cuban flag.

The American had no problems with the stoppage.

"That's the rules. I can't complain and I can't gripe."

Just a year out of jail after serving seven years, Bennett looks the model reformed prisoner.

He was well aware of Cuban-US history - "Kennedy had the option of pushing the button, he didn't, so now we're all here to enjoy this day, so that's lucky" - but it had not affected him in the fight.

At one stage in the second round Bennett did land a punch that rocked Savon but the way the Cuban shook it off made the American's job look that much harder.

Bennett now has the job of rejuvenating a team who have lost all their big fights so far, while 10 of the 12 Cubans are still alive. All contestants from here on are fighting for bronze or better.

The Olympic contest has so far done nothing to improve the sport's image. Several teams have complained about the computer scoring system. Boxers are not supposed to know the score round by round but it is shown on television monitors, and fans have been peering into the press area to get scores that they can then pass them on to fighters' corners.