Boxing: Pownceby bows out - quietly

Soulan Pownceby's silent-except-on-TV role came to an end when he was comfortably defeated in the first round at the boxing last night.

Just as in the Athens Olympics two years ago, Pownceby looked out of sorts against a first-round opponent - Canada's Glenn Hunter beat him 33-19 on points - and will play no further part in the Commonwealth Games.

Whether he will talk or not remains uncertain, as are hints of his retirement.

Pownceby, 30, is still dogged by repercussions from his 1995 conviction for manslaughter of his baby daughter Jeanette.

He was again a controversial figure in these Games and wouldn't answer questions after his fight. If the media lock-down when the team arrived in Melbourne wasn't enough, Pownceby compounded matters by then agreeing to be comments man on a television broadcast of a teammate's fight.

But the broadcast last night will have told a story of a scrappy fight and a man perhaps affected yet again by the fuss and focus on his Games selection. In Athens, Pownceby appeared to fight well below his best. Team coach Henry Schuster said Pownceby was below par last night.

"There are no excuses in boxing," he said, when asked if the controversy had affected the fighter. "It's a tough sport and Soul's a big boy. I don't think it affected him, the security in the village is good and he wasn't bothered by the media. Sometimes in boxing it is just how it goes on the night.

"Soul has a good jab that he just didn't get working tonight. The opponent was a big guy, a tough guy, and he moved well and took out Soul's right hand. Soul has a big right hand but he hardly got to land it."

Asked if Pownceby would retire, Schuster said: "It's up to him. I hope he doesn't, I think he's got things to do in boxing yet."

He had some support in the crowd from team chef de mission Dave Currie and a small gathering of athletes and team personnel - but not even the highly enthusiastic Currie, who has been suspected of starting a haka in a phone box - got one going last night.

New Zealand's Greg Weenink defeated Samoa's Niko Vaega 18-9 in their super-heavyweight bout last night.