Boxing: Support staff rally around beaten Pownceby

2.00pm

ATHENS - A shattered Soulan Pownceby will be taken under the wing of former Olympians Chris White and Anna Lawrence here in coming days to ensure he doesn't dwell on a nightmare few weeks.

New Zealand's solitary boxer and most talked-about team member was the first of the Games team of 151 to bow out when he lost on points to Ihsan Yildirim Tarhan of Turkey in under six minutes.

Pownceby's opening light heavyweight bout didn't go the distance after Tarhan built a 26-6 lead just before the end of the third of four two-minute rounds. Fights are automatically stopped when a 20-point margin is reached.

Inevitably, Pownceby's conviction for the 1995 manslaughter of his baby daughter loomed in the background.

A media pack including curious British and American reporters gathered to interview Pownceby afterwards, but he and coach Phil Shatford strode past, grim-faced, without a word.

Later, Shatford said he and his charge were "gutted" by the result but steadfastly refused to blame the mid-year media storm when Pownceby's past was revealed.

"We're not making any excuses. He was ready, there was no problem whatsoever," Shatford told NZPA.

"That's boxing, personally I didn't see 20 points in it, but I'm not a judge."

Shatford said Pownceby was looking forward to cheering on his teammates for the rest of the Games fortnight, starting with the men's hockey team and fencer Jessica Beer.

New Zealand chef de mission Dave Currie was in close attendance at the venue and shielded Pownceby and Shatford from the media.

Currie said Pownceby would remain in the Games village and be looked after by former Games rower White and hockey captain Lawrence who are present as athlete support.

"There's a whole range of sports here by themselves, we don't want them finished then hung out to dry," Currie said.

"Clearly there was a lot of furore back home around his selection. I'm not involved in selection, my job is to embrace and draw a team together.

"Soul has been great since he's been part of the team and I expect he'll continue to be."

Some of his New Zealand teammates found being part of the same team had become an issue today, with swimmer Moss Burmester bemused to be quizzed by an American journalist on Pownceby after his 400m freestyle heat. He refused to comment.

Later in the ring, Pownceby made a promising start after jogging in to the tones of Prodigy's Firestarter.

He fell behind on points but there was some hope late in the first round when he nailed Tarhan with a left-right combination which had his opponent staggering.

After the first two-minute round he trailed 4-7 on points, but the second round was a disaster as Tarhan's uncomplicated style and accurate jabs saw him race to a 17-4 lead.

Just short of the third round bell it was all over as Pownceby, with 1992 Olympian Trevor Shailer in his corner, desperately sought an unlikely knockout.

"I didn't think there was anything at all in the fight after the first round, the second round he let it slip away a bit, but I was very surprised by what the score was," Shatford said.

"You train so hard for an event and an outcome like this is not what we wanted, but that's sport and you're fighting the best in the world so we'll take it on the chin."

- NZPA